Honoring the life of U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski by helping others
Scholarships will help students embrace public service, journalism, and ministry
Martha Walorski and Dean Swihart have attended many ceremonies and events honoring their beloved daughter and wife in this past year.
People also still walk up to Martha, Jackie’s mother, in the grocery store, give her a hug, and tell her a story about Jackie Walorski, who died tragically in a car crash at age 58 on Aug. 3, 2022.
Martha and Dean have sought their own way to honor Jackie’s legacy of faith and service, as well as her love for education. They believe she would want them to get to work helping others even as they honor her.
She wanted you to call her “Jackie,” despite the fact that she may have been your State Representative in the Indiana General Assembly or your Congresswoman in the U.S. Congress. In the Statehouse from 2005 to 2010 and in Congress from 2012 to 2022, she participated in the formality required of lawmakers, but what she loved was interacting with her constituents.
“She enjoyed being close to the people,” Martha says.
After graduating from Taylor University in 1985, she came back to northern Indiana and worked in journalism and then moved into nonprofit, development and public policy roles.
She met Dean Swihart in the singles group at Calvary Temple and they married in 1995. Publicly, she was known as Jackie Walorski. Privately, she was Mrs. Swihart. “Been called Mr. Walorski many times. I just smile,” Dean says.
As she worked at the South Bend Chamber of Commerce and he as a musician and music teacher, Jackie and Dean went on short-term mission trips in 1997 and again in 1998. They felt called to be Christian missionaries and left in June 1999. They were planning to go to Ukraine and ended up in Romania, where they worked with children in a burn unit or living on the street. They were church planters and taught at a Bible college. They later started their own Bible college.
They navigated a world changed by 9/11. When Raymond Walorski, Jackie’s father, became ill and she was having back problems, they returned to Indiana in 2003.
“We decided we needed to do something,” Dean says.
Dean Swihart and Martha “Mert” Walorski are honoring the legacy of the late Jackie Walorski by creating scholarship funds to help students in her congressional district. (Photo by Bryan Chris)
Jackie had been interested in politics and sought out State Rep. Richard Mangus. He was retiring due to health issues and said that she would be his choice to take his seat, says Dean. He took Jackie under his wing, teaching her how to work a room and dress for the occasion, and relate to the type of voters to whom she was speaking.
She won the election handily and then won two more terms.
In 2009 and 2010, she ran against U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly and narrowly lost. After redistricting and Donnelly running for Senate, Jackie won a seat in Congress in 2012.
She became an advocate for veterans in her work as a lawmaker. “She loved doing things for people,” says Martha.
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She got a servicemember reunited with his dog to help with post-traumatic stress disorder. She told the head of the Veterans Administration how a veteran who had been misdiagnosed needed their help.
“She didn’t want to hear no,” Martha says.
Nor could she sit still. Though she often had back pain, she would tell her husband and mother, “I’m not just going to sit here,” and off they’d go to do something.
She could speed-read books and proposed bills, but also retain what she read. She remembered the names of nearly everyone she encountered. “With Jackie, everybody thought they were her best friend,” says her mother.
You could also count on her word. “She saw her position in Congress as a ministry opportunity,” Dean says. “I can’t tell you how many times we prayed that her job would be used for the gospel, more than anything else.” Few people knew how she worked across the political aisle, devout in her own beliefs, but working with those with whom she disagreed, he says.
Jackie’s death on S.R. 19 south of Wakarusa in 2022 was a deep loss for many. The last year has been “hell,” Martha says.
Martha Walorski hopes young people will be inspired by Jackie Walorski’s career of ministry and public service. (Photo by Bryan Chris)
As she and Dean wrestled with how to honor Jackie, they were having dinner with several family friends, including Tim Portolese. Tim urged Dean and Martha to seek the Community Foundation’s help. “There are a lot of people who want to do something for a loved one who has passed or a child who has a disease,” he says. “A lot of people struggle to make it happen. The foundation has succeeded in helping people do that and is a great way to make such things happen.” He helped connect Dean and Martha with people at the foundation to discuss how to establish the scholarship.
After several conversations, the Jackie Walorski Memorial Scholarships were created to go to students from the Second Congressional District, currently spanning all or part of 10 counties. The scholarships will be given to those pursuing a four-year degree as full-time college students. The Memorial Scholarship will be given to students in programs related to public affairs, politics, or journalism. The Memorial Ministry Scholarship will be for those in ministry- or mission-related fields.
Both will honor a woman of deep faith and commitment to others.
Pete McCown, president of the Community Foundation, says, “Jackie was unapologetically a woman of faith.” Her character, patriotism, and faith were interwoven, he added.
Those who wish to honor her legacy can contribute funds toward the scholarships. Students who apply can learn from her example of service to others.
This story appeared in the 2023 Annual Report.
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