Philanthropic icon, Red Earth founder Lou Kerr dead at 87; funeral services pending
Lou (Coker) Kerr, the daughter-in-law of late U.S. Sen. Robert S. Kerr and a nationally known civic leader and philanthropist, died Thursday after an extended illness. She was 87.
Born in 1937 in the Capitol Hill area of Oklahoma City, she was one of 10 children. In high school she worked as a waitress, floral designer and bookkeeper. Kerr graduated from Capitol Hill School in 1955 and later earned a bachelor's degree in education and health from Oklahoma City University. As a teenager, she raised money to establish a youth center at her Methodist church in south Oklahoma City and, in 1969, with a $25,000 loan, she opened a clothing store in Shepherd Mall.
She married Robert S. Kerr Jr. in 1972.
Kerr Jr. was the son of Oklahoma Gov. and U.S. Sen. Robert S. Kerr. Sen. Kerr was a national powerbroker in office and was once described by media outlets as "The Uncrowned King of the United States Senate."
'She was a visionary'
The younger Kerr, Robert S. Kerr Jr., was a driving force for decades in formulating water policy in Oklahoma. He died in 2004, just a year after being inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. And though Lou Kerr embraced a family filled with politicians, she, herself, "was the consummate volunteer who had great ideas," her friend, Bob Burke, said.
"I served on several boards with her. No one could outwork her as a volunteer," said Burke, an Oklahoma City attorney and historian. "Her heart was all about changing the lives of people who were served by organizations that received grants from the Kerr Foundation. She was a visionary."
Burke said Kerr often thought of ways for an organization to succeed. "Even if the idea was seemingly out of reach, she made it happen. She was an extraordinary role model for other volunteers whose work is absolutely necessary for most nonprofit causes," he said.
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Lou Kerr was a founding member of Red Earth, the Bizzell Library Society at the University of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation. She also chaired the State Capitol Preservation Commission for 19 years and served as chair of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission, which planned the state's 100th birthday celebration. In addition, she was president of the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation, and the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. She was also president of the Friends of the Governor's Mansion.
She served as vice president of the Kerr Foundation from 1985 to 1999, when she became president and chair of the board. She received numerous awards from community and state organizations and was a member of the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Governor's Arts Award. She was a member of the Commerce and Industry Hall of Fame at Oklahoma City University. Philanthropy World magazine named her to the Philanthropy Hall of Fame.
Nationally, Kerr was a trustee of the National Public Radio Foundation and the National Symphony Orchestra. She also served on the Women's Leadership Board at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
"She served on more boards than you can count," Burke said. "The United Way, Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women, Allied Arts, Lyric Theatre, Oklahoma Business Roundtable, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. She was a trustee at OCU. She helped make dreams become a reality."
Survivors include her two children, Steven Kerr and Laura Kerr. Funeral services are pending.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Noted philanthropist and civic leader Lou Kerr dies at 87
