(La Porte, IN) - La Porte County Sheriff John Boyd got word early Wednesday afternoon that Representative Jackie Walorski had died in a car accident. He said his first response was disbelief. “I’m shocked,” Boyd said just a few hours after the news went public. “I can’t believe it. I want to believe that it’s not true.”
Boyd knew Walorski both as a friend and a political resource. “She was such a kind-hearted person, and she was so in-touch with the 2nd District," he said. "When she wasn’t in Washington, she was making her rounds throughout the district…. She had a real soft spot in her heart for La Porte County and the people who live here and the issues going on here. I know I’m going to miss her.”
Boyd said Walorski frequently checked in with him, especially in tough times like the pandemic and during the violent protests across the country . “It wasn’t at all uncommon that I would get a telephone call," said Boyd, "usually about 4:45, 5:00. And she was heading back to the district, and she just wanted to touch base and find out how everything was in La Porte County.”
Boyd said Walorski felt that talking to local law enforcement was the best way to get the pulse of local communities.
According to Boyd, Walorski, who started her career as a news reporter, was an expert communicator.
