Resolution honoring Jackie Walorski passes Indiana Senate

INDIANAPOLIS (WNDU) - A resolution memorializing the life of late Congresswoman Jackie Walorski passed the Indiana Senate on Tuesday.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 38 honors the memory of Walorski, who served as the U.S. Representative for Indiana’s 2nd congressional district from 2013 until she died in a car crash in Elkhart County last August that also killed three others.

The resolution, presented by State Sen. Linda Rogers (R-Granger), opened proceedings on Tuesday on the floor of the Senate. Senators from both political parties spoke at length about Walorski’s impact, but they were quick to pass a resolution about a congresswoman known to most simply as “Jackie.”

Rogers called Walorski a friend and a mentor.

“While Jackie and I were great friends, she was friends with anyone who had an opportunity to meet her,” she said. “Any time Jackie stepped into a room, her amazing smile and presence garnered her admiration and respect.”

Walorski’s husband, Dean, her mother, Martha, and PASTORS John and Ramona Wilson joined senators from both sides of the aisle on Tuesday, almost eighth months to the day of the crash that killed Edith Schmucker of Nappanee, along with Walorski and her two staffers.

“Right now, Jackie is looking down and she’s going, ‘What are you guys doing? You have work to do!’” joked State Sen. Blake Doriat (R-New Paris). “And that’s what she would say. And she’s with our Lord, and she’s in a better place than we are.”

“She truly, truly, truly had a servant’s heart,” said State Sen. Jim Buck (R-Kokomo). “She loved people. She loved the country that she was able to serve, whether it was in the state of Indiana or Congress.”

“She was a servant, as Sen. Buck said,” added State Sen. Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis). “And that doesn’t come from just being born. That takes faith, and that takes an understanding of God. So, if I could provide any security to you, I know in my heart she’s in a better place, taken way too soon from us.

“But even though we may disagree, God shows us a way to respect each other, and she did that,” Taylor continued. “Be very, very, very confident she’s looking down on us and saying, ‘Thank you.’ God bless you and your family.”

On Thursday, a dedication ceremony will be held for a new road in Elkhart County named in Walorski’s honor.

Copyright 2023 WNDU. All rights reserved.