Jackie Walorski obit

Indiana GOP Rep. Walorski, three others die in auto accident

The fatal Wednesday crash also killed the congresswoman's aide Emma Thomson and two others, according to the sheriff's office in Elkhart County, Ind. 

She was not on the list.

Rep. Jackie Walorski and three other people died in a fatal car crash Wednesday, according to the sheriff’s office of Elkhart County, Ind.

The Indiana Republican was a senior House member, her party’s top member on the House Ethics Committee and a member of the Ways and Means Committee. Her communications director, Emma Thomson, and Zachery Potts, her district director, were also killed in the accident, the sheriff’s office announced, as was the driver of the vehicle that collided with theirs.

Walorski’s death is a shock to the Capitol community, where two other sitting House members have died this year: Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.) died within a month of each other earlier this year.

First elected in 2012, the 58-year-old Walorski was also an advocate for children and families and an influential voice for women in the House GOP conference, helping to grow their ranks over time.

She’d been set to take on a leadership role on the Ways and Means Committee if Republicans took back the House in November. She would have overseen the worker and family support subcommittee.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy confirmed her death “with a heavy heart.” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) called the congresswoman, who had been a member of his whip team, “a champion for the people of Indiana.”

“Jackie and her staffers died serving her constituents. They will be missed, and our nation will miss their service,” Scalise said in a statement.

Fellow Indiana Republican, Sen. Todd Young, said he was “truly devastated.”

“Jackie loved Hoosiers and devoted her life to fighting for them,” he wrote. “I’ll never forget her spirit, her positive attitude, and most importantly her friendship.

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), a close colleague of Walorski’s, called her “incredibly caring.”

“She always had a warm smile and a word of advice, and I will miss her friendship,” Hinson wrote.

Another GOP member, Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson, added that he was “at a loss for words.”

“Jackie was a kind soul with a huge heart. She was a trusted colleague and good friend,” Ferguson wrote. “There was no one who fought harder for her constituents than Jackie. I’m going to miss her terribly.”

Walorski served in the Indiana House of Representatives, representing Indiana's 21st district, from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, she won the Republican nomination for Indiana's 2nd congressional district, but narrowly lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly. Walorski won the seat in 2012 after Donnelly vacated it to run for the U.S. Senate, and was reelected four times.

Born in South Bend, Indiana, on August 17, 1963, Walorski grew up with her two older brothers in the city's Gilmer Park neighborhood. Her mother, Martha C. (née Martin), worked as a meat cutter at a local grocery store, and her father, Raymond B. Walorski, worked as a firefighter and owned an appliance store. She had Polish and German ancestry. As a child, she attended Hay Elementary School and graduated from Riley High School in 1981. She then attended Liberty Baptist College from 1981 to 1983, and graduated from Taylor University, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and public administration in 1985.

Walorski began her career as a television reporter for WSBT-TV, a CBS affiliate in South Bend, from 1985 to 1989, and was the executive director of the St. Joseph County Humane Society from 1989 to 1991. In 1991, she was appointed as the director of institutional advancement at Ancilla College, a position she held until she was appointed as the director of membership at the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce in 1996. She later worked as the director of annual giving at Indiana University South Bend from 1997 to 1999.

Walorski moved to Romania in 2000 and founded Impact International, a foundation to provide medical supplies and attention to impoverished children. She did Christian missionary work in Romania before returning to the U.S. in 2004.