Kathleen Kersey and Joan Cordova-Rodriguez
Recorded
July 23, 2025
36:43 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
mbb000622
Description
Kathleen "Kathy" Kersey (84) speaks to StoryCorps facilitator and conversation partner Joan Cordova Rodriguez (31) about her life leading non-profit organizations in South Dakota.Subject Log / Time Code
Kathleen Kersey explains that she was born in Minnesota to a poor family that moved a lot.
Kathleen recalls attending high school in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota, and shares stories from her low-income, Catholic family with middle-class values.
Kathleen reflects on getting married her junior year of college at Northern College (now Northern University) while majoring in English.
Kathleen speaks about her husband Ray Hart, a biologist who studied migratory birds. She remembers when he took a 6-week assignment in Alaska after they got married.
Kathleen speaks about meeting her husband and telling a friend she was going to marry a man like him.
Kathleen shares stories of when she and her husband served in their church. In one story, on the way to an event in Huron with other couples they had a fatal car accident and her husband was killed.
Kathleen remembers how at the urging of her husband's boss, she applied for and attended graduate school while she was 24 with two babies.
Kathleen recalls teaching English and Creative Writing at her alma mater Northern College. She tells the story of when she married one of her students, Jim Kersey, who was five years younger than she was. She reflects on their 40 years of marriage.
Kathleen remembers getting involved with the Right to Life Movement, and helping start South Dakota's organization.
Kathleen recalls how as part of her service with the Right to Life Movement, she helped to create a food pantry.
Kathleen speaks about assisting a food pantry on the Rosebud Native American reservation.
Joan Cordova-Rodriguez asks Kathleen to speak about her proudest moment. She explains that it was work that got her fired from her organization, and she lost her position at her Catholic church.
Kathleen touches on ending her career supporting a Colon Cancer organization after her husband was diagnosed with the disease. She recalls his death a few days after their 40th wedding anniversary.
Participants
- Kathleen Kersey
- Joan Cordova-Rodriguez