Longtime Northwest Indiana activist and professor Lorrell D. Kilpatrick died unexpectedly Friday morning after a medical emergency, Everybody Counts Inc. President and CEO Teresa Torres confirmed.
She was 46.
Kilpatrick, director of advocacy for Everybody Counts, had been serving as its executive director Pro Temp while Torres recuperated from a recent surgery, Torres said Friday. They received the news from one of Kilpatrick’s brothers, leaving the organization “in complete shock.”
“Everyone here is just reeling. Lorrell was one of the most intelligent, dedicated, committed people who has ever been a part of our staff,” Torres said. “My brain is numb and exhausted. I’m 75 and wasn’t guaranteed to survive a double valve replacement, and Lorrell was only in her 40s and doing great. None of this makes sense.”
Jordan Musenbrock, a counselor advocate for Everybody Counts, said Kilpatrick was the go-to person for all the answers while adding more questions no one considered but everyone needed to hear.
“Lorrell was a real backbone for us, and without her, there’s a hole in both the agency and Northwest Indiana,” she said. “We’re going to continue our work in her memory.”
Arletha Eubanks, who recently joined the organization in July, often wondered when Kilpatrick slept.
“She was involved in so many things, I feel like she pushed me to be better in the short time I knew her,” Eubanks said. “Anyone lucky enough to come across her mentorship always saw results when she was behind them.”
Purdue Northwest Professor Kathy Tobin wrote in a social media post that she’s taught many students over the course of her career, but no one like Kilpatrick.
“When I was faculty advisor for the Social Justice Club, or maybe even before then, she asked me to mentor her on a research project in which she was applying for an undergraduate research grant. She got the grant. No surprise there,” Tobin wrote. “But through our time together, she was more of a mentor to me. She was my teacher. Because of her, I’ve never looked at race in the same way. I’ve never looked at society in the same way. I’ve never looked at the world in the same way.
“She has left us far too soon, but she made her mark on all of us. And I can still hear her laugh. RIP Lorrell. And thank you.”
Kimmie Gordon with Brown Faces Green Spaces said she was saddened by the news of Kilpatrick’s death. She described Kilpatrick as a “true powerhouse in the regional BLM movement. A sweet, beautiful, strong Black soul — always advocating outside of herself to advance the cause for future generations of our Black and disabled persons.”
“She will be sorely missed in the movement and on this Earth,” Gordon said. “May she continue to shine with us as she now shines above us.”
The Rev. Marie Beth Siroky said so many in the Region who walked, marched and stood up alongside Kilpatrick speaking for all human rights are in shock at the news of her death. She said allies call her an important center of power in Northwest Indiana.
“She was a fierce advocate for ‘Everybody Counts,’ fighting for accessibility so everyone could participate in the civic process,” Siroky said.
She described Kilpatrick’s greatest skill as her ability to state her view and stand her ground no matter the opposition, whether it was on the steps of the U.S. District Courthouse in Hammond or before the Gary Common Council.
Kilpatrick stood her ground in meetings with the EPA and elected officials advocating for residents and the region during the West Calumet water and soil contamination crisis in East Chicago.
She protested deportations at the Gary/Chicago International Airport and fought to end for-profit prisons.
Siroky said Kilpatrick fought for reproductive justice and police accountability and was an advocate for the renaming of the connected stretch of Virginia, Ellis and Georgia streets to Malcolm X Boulevard.
“She never stopped. She organized and supported efforts of other groups. She worked collaboratively with the diverse grassroots organizations, never watering down the message for human rights,” Siroky said. “When I look back at the videos and press stories … we were indeed warriors as our Region faces discrimination in all facets.”
Siroky said as she has begun talking to others in their shared grief over the loss, she said she keeps hearing how Kilpatrick taught everyone so much.
“She modeled being an ally, speaking out building and a willingness to include everybody,” Siroky said.
If Kilpatrick sent out an invite with information about an event, regardless what the event may be, you knew it was personal.
“She valued others’ input and discussion,” Siroky said.
In addition to her work with Black Lives Matter NWI, she was actively involved as a board member of the World Institute on Disability. A graduate of Purdue University, her previous positions included teaching at Purdue Northwest and Indiana University Northwest, Torres said. She was also considered an up-and-coming leader in the national disability rights movement, according to Torres.
Kilpatrick is preceded in death by her mother, Ivory Jean Steele; and is survived by two brothers, Victor Q. (Yalanda) Kilpatrick Jr., and William C. Steele; step-siblings Derrick Steele, Shirley Steele, Donna Collins, Carla (Marvin) Dillard and Damon Washington; and extended family. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Michelle Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
