“She got it done” Northeasters remember the humble Kari Dziedzic

To the hundreds — maybe thousands — of people Kari Dziedzic spent time with, she was “the most un-egotistical” public official, “incredibly productive, a listener who could make good ideas happen,” as Sonja Peterson, former DFL Senate District 60 treasurer, put it. 

Senator Karen “Kari” Dziedzic died at age 62 on Dec. 27, 2024. A three-hour public celebration of life Jan. 2, 2025, found the funeral home packed and lines at times almost a block-long outside. The funeral was private for family. Memorials are directed to Dziedzic Family Foundation, East Side Neighborhood Services, Walt Dziedzic Innovation Fund at Minneapolis Park Board, or Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.

News media took Dziedzic’s cue and paired the news of her death with information about ovarian cancer. In March 2023 after surgery, she had said, “Regular check-ups are key to early detection and prevention of the spread of cancer. I urge everyone to visit their doctor and prioritize preventative care.” The legislator stepped down as senate majority leader to tend to her health after cancer returned in 2024.

“Life is short. Enjoy it.” That’s a statement from her memorial card. 

Dziedzic is remembered as an “amazing human and leader,” Sheridan neighborhood resident and former president Joy Smallfield said on Facebook. “Kari was a true example of what compassionate leadership is. Kind, intelligent, diligent. She always showed up for community. Her family roots run deep in Northeast. I will miss her in a similar way I miss Diane Loeffler. Whenever I saw either of them, they would give me space to address political issues … I have always felt pride that these two amazing women represented the best interests of our community and beyond.”

Though Dziedzic’s father Walt, as a Minneapolis City Council member, had been instrumental in starting Art-A-Whirl®, Kari and Rep. Loeffler often had to miss much of the event when the legislative season ran long. Kari accepted a posthumous Vision Award from the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District honoring Walt in 2019.

Dziedzic stopped in at the reception for arts advocate Nick Heille’s celebration of life in December 2023. Artist Loretta Bebeau recalls Dziedzic engaging with her at the beginning of Bebeau’s many-
languages project during Open Streets. The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District wrote a tribute article in their e-newsletter. 

Shemeka Bogan, executive assistant to the senate president, said Dziedzic “was so kind and down to earth … Not always do staff get the opportunity to interact directly with the senators outside of their own offices but she made certain to always make me feel valued and seen. I will forever think of her when I wear red lipstick.”

Northeast resident Hayley Bloom Peterson worked most closely with Senator Dziedzic during the 2024 legislative session. “Even though she wasn’t physically at the Capitol, she was no less a part of the work. She really got into the weeds of every policy issue. Throughout her treatment, she was working tirelessly for the district and all Minnesotans. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were talking through budget priorities,” Bloom Peterson said. 

Sheletta Brundidge, who purchased billboards all over town to spotlight Kari as Kari would never do for herself, encouraged people to share Kari Dziedzic stories on Facebook, leading with, “When I hosted the first Black Entrepreneurs Day at the Capitol, nobody signed up to speak. [Kari] made an appointment with Gov. Tim Walz at the same time as my event. When she got to his office, she said, ‘Let’s go over and check out Sheletta’s thing.’ He had no idea she was bringing him over to be my featured speaker. I’m forever grateful for her friendship!”

Sen. Judy Seeberger, District 41, recalled a day when Dziedzic door-knocked with her in 2022. After a long day, they sat and “talked about how the humidity made our hair crazy and just shot the shit about life. It was a moment of being real in the middle of a tough campaign.”

Dziedzic held many different public service and campaign roles in her younger years, then won a special primary held to fill Larry Pogemiller’s seat when then-Gov. Mark Dayton tapped him to head the office of Higher Education in 2011. When the Senate seat was pretty well secured in the last several years, she did a lot of groundwork for her party’s candidates around the state, encouraging people to run for office and then supporting those who did. The effort of many eventually resulted in DFL majorities in the House, Senate and a DFL governor. As majority leader, a compromise candidate known for connecting people, Dziedzic held party members together to pass much legislation that had been on the agenda for years, stymied by divided government. 

“A passionate legislator, a respected leader, and a trusted colleague and friend,” Senate Minority Leader Republican Mark Johnson told media. He had commented to the Minnesota Reformer in 2023, “I think she does earn some respect in the fact that she’s very good about being thoughtful in the way that she moves forward … She’s very pragmatic.”

House Speaker Designate Republican Lisa Demuth’s statement called Dziedzic, “a thoughtful and respected leader that served her constituents and the people of Minnesota with compassion … tremendous resolve and commitment to public service.”

“[Kari] didn’t say much but when she said something it was worth hearing,” State Auditor Julie Blaha, a DFLer, said at the visitation.  

Sonja Peterson remembered when the Northeast Library closed for renovation/expansion that took out the old tree in front of it. Her daughter Clara remarked that they should make furniture for the library from the wood. Hennepin County’s system had taken over the Minneapolis libraries. Dziedzic was working for then-Commissioner Mark Stenglein. “Tom (Dunnwald, Clara’s father) called the office. Kari thought it was a good idea and it got done.”

Dziedzic authored many bills

Sen. Kari Dziedzic is remembered for her ability to “cross the aisle” and work with others. During her 12 years in the Minnesota Legislature, she was the chief author of more than 500 bills, averaging about 75 per biennium.

Some of the bills were concerned with mundane tasks, such as resolutions dealing with postage. She also authored many that benefited Northeast Minneapolis. 

In 2012, when she finished Larry Pogemiller’s term, she wrote bills to issue bonds for the reconstruction of the 10th Avenue Bridge and an appropriation for Father Hennepin Bluff Park.

The following biennium, she pushed through legislation to recreate Hall’s Island. During the 2015-16 legislative session, she composed bills to eliminate the state’s marriage license waiting period and to allow off-premises sales of growlers on Sundays (surely a boon to Northeast breweries).

Dziedzic also got the ball rolling on habitat restoration along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, sales tax exemptions on firefighting equipment and funding the first phase of filling in the Missing Link of the Grand Rounds. She authored the lead service line replacement bill, a program which will roll out in the Bottineau neighborhood this year.

As Minnesota climbed out of the pandemic, Dziedzic carried a bill to appropriate money for the Northrup King Building renovation which got underway last year, and another to provide humanitarian relief for Ukraine.

In her final year in the legislature, while working remotely, she shepherded a bill to fund East Side Neighborhood Services to provide food security for clients. 

Perhaps the bill she will be most remembered for is one that was very personal: Requiring health care plans to cover wigs for people who’ve lost their hair because of cancer treatments.