U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R), talks with Kristi Ormsby at a Kosciusko County Republican event in 2018. Looking on is Jerry Kammerer, who was Plain township trustee at the time. Walorski died Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 3, in a car crash. InkFreeNews file photo.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — To Kosciusko County Republican Chairman Mike Ragan, U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski was not only “a terrific congresswoman,” but also “a wonderful friend.”

Ragan and other local Republicans shared their thoughts on Walorski on Wednesday, Aug. 3, following her death.

Walorski, 58, had represented the 2nd Congressional District since 2013, and was one of four killed in a two-vehicle accident Wednesday north of Nappanee that sent shockwaves through northern Indiana.

Also killed were two congressional staffers: Zachery Potts, 27, Mishawaka, and Emma Thomson, 28, Washington, D.C., as well as the driver of the other vehicle, Edith Schmucker, 56, Nappanee.

Jackie Walorski

Walorski was in her fifth term representing a district that includes part of Kosciusko County and much of Michiana.

Ragan spoke from Rozella Ford Golf Club in Warsaw, where the Kosciusko County GOP was having an annual golf outing.

“It’s kind of brought our golf outing to a stop,” he said.

“It’s just going to be hard to imagine not having Jackie,” said Ragan, coming to tears. “I’m so grateful that I got to know her. It’s a tremendous loss for Kosciusko County and all of the 2nd District.”

He recalled a few years ago when Walorski brought him chocolate chip cookies her mother had made for his birthday and sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

Ragan also reflected on the passing of Potts who was chairman of the 2nd Congressional District and of the St. Joseph Republican Party.

“Zach Potts was a great friend,” said Ragan. “He just came to Warsaw recently to help the Kosciusko County Young Republicans get off the ground.”

“A great guy and a real up and comer,” remarked Ragan on Potts. “I could have envisioned Zach someday replacing Jackie (in Congress).”

Former state lawmaker Dave Wolkins, who was also at the golf outing, said he “was so proud to have (Walorski) as our congresswoman.”

“She said exactly what I would have said if I ever had a chance to do like that,” said Wolkins. “It’s really a terrible loss. I feel sorry all the way around. I’m stunned. I don’t know what to say.”

Wolkins served with Walorski in the Indiana General Assembly before she became a member of Congress.

He recalled how Walorski went toe-to-toe with the former speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, Pat Bauer, whom he called “a little dictator.”

“He did something she didn’t like, and she ate him alive,” Wolkins said.

“‘Pat,’ I said, ‘She sure ate you alive,'” remembered Wolkins. “He said, ‘She’s a better man than I am.’ He knew he had been had.”

“I’m in shock because she was my idea of what a good congresswoman is,” said Wolkins. “She could light up a crowd … She knew what to say … and she believed what she said.”

Kosciusko County Councilman Ernie Wiggins said he’d known Walorski since she was a state lawmaker while he was mayor of Warsaw. He called her “a good friend of Kosciusko County.”

“I’m honored that she served as our representative not only in Washington but down in Indianapolis,” said Wiggins. “And she’s going to be missed, not only her, but Zach Potts. Just a wonderful young man.”

Kosciusko County Councilwoman Kim Cates said she and her husband, the late Kosciusko County Judge David Cates, got to know Walorski when she was first running for Congress and they hosted events for her up where they lived in Syracuse.

“She really held firm on our values that we hold here in her district, and we were really fortunate to have her and it’s going to be a tremendous loss,” said Cates.

She added that Potts was “just an amazing young man and he had so much potential.”

Cates also noted that Walorski “was intelligent and she was vibrant and she was a fighter.”

“She fought for the things that mattered to the people that she represented,” said Cates.

Walorski, right, speaks with State Reps. Curt Nisly, left, and David Abbott at the fall 2021 Kosciusko County GOP fish fry. File photo provided by Times-Union.