Marilynn Kelm

Marilynn Burt Kelm was born to Pearl (Brown) and Willard Burt on December 7, 1937, in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, in the home of her maternal grandmother, who was a midwife and delivered her. She grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, and spent a happy childhood hunting and fishing with her parents, ice skating in the winter, and swimming and waterskiing in the summer. Her parents built a cottage at Pelican Lake in Minnesota in 1945, and it became the setting for countless family gatherings and summer traditions.

After graduating from Fargo Central High, she attended Moorhead State College. In 1958, she married Jim Kelm, and paused her studies as they started a family, welcoming two daughters, first Susan and then Shari. In 1965, Jim’s job took the family to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Marilynn became active in Lutheran women’s auxiliary, garden club, and PTA. She served on several boards, including the United Way and the Civic Fine Arts Association.

Marilynn enjoyed painting and sculpting, and she took art classes at Augustana College. Marilynn and Jim bought their own lake cottage near her parents, where the family had many fun summers swimming, boating, and waterskiing. Marilynn created happy memories with her daughters there, exploring nature, identifying wildflowers and birds, painting, and sculpting together. Marilynn continued to visit Pelican Lake almost every summer throughout her life.

Marilynn’s life was one of service—to her community, church, and government. She had a passion for the environment, and in the early 1970s, she became involved in environmental work. She co-founded the South Dakota Environmental Coalition and the Clean Air Coalition, work for which she received several conservation awards, including being named the Air Conservationist of the Year by the South Dakota Wildlife Federation. She served on the board of the recycling group CRUD. In 1973, Governor Richard Kneip appointed her to the State Board of Environmental Protection. The only woman on the board, she was elected chair at the first meeting. In 1972, she was listed in the Outstanding Young Women in America.

Her activities also took a political turn. She joined the League of Women Voters and became president of the Sioux Falls chapter. As a feminist, she was an advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment. Wanting to make a bigger impact, in 1973 she ran for the state senate and was elected. As a Democratic senator, she continued to work for the environment and women’s rights.

In 1976, Jim’s job took the family to Atlanta, Georgia. Marilynn quickly found a place to direct her energy, working for the Jimmy Carter campaign. A fond family memory was their trip to DC for the Carter inauguration, with Marilynn and Jim attending an inaugural ball. Marilynn went back to school at Georgia State University, where she was on the dean’s list and earned her bachelor’s degree in urban planning in 1977. She worked for the Environmental Protection Agency and then for the Carter administration in Washington, DC, in the Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining. Decked out in a hard hat and steel-tipped boots, she traveled around the country surveying strip mines. Through the years, she worked on other political campaigns, including Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.

In 1983, at the age of 45, Marilynn began law school at the University of Georgia—one year ahead of her daughter Susan, who also attended law school. After graduation, she worked first for the Prisoner’s Legal Project at the state prison in Jackson, GA, and then in private practice for a small firm in Atlanta doing family law. In 1993, she joined the Office of the General Counsel of the Social Security Administration and retired from OGC in 2003.

Marilynn had a sense of adventure and loved to travel. She and Jim took the girls on many long car trips; the longest and most memorable was the epic family road trip from South Dakota all the way down to Mexico City and Acapulco. In later years, she traveled to Russia, Turkey, and numerous European countries, including a special trip to Norway with her mother and sister Julie to visit the land of their ancestors.

A faithful Lutheran her entire life, Marilynn was an active member of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta for many years. In retirement, she devoted much of her time to the church. Her service included working tirelessly on the constitution committee focusing on the by-laws, election to the church council, and chairing the Community Outreach Board. She also served on the senior pastor call committee and the Southeastern Synod Candidacy Committee.

Marilynn is survived by her daughters, Susan Kelm Story and Shari Kelm Simmons (Tom); her grandchildren, Christian Kelm and Georgia Simmons; and her sister Julie Burt. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her sister Bonnie Eliason.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta.