In Memoriam

August 20, 2024 (Volume 47, Number 21)

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Jennifer Palm, undergraduate nursing program assistant for the Kirkhof College of Nursing

Jennifer Palm, staff member
Jennifer Palm, undergraduate nursing program assistant for the Kirkhof College of Nursing, died July 22, 2024. She was 42.

Palm began working at Grand Valley 18 years ago, serving in the Registrar's Office, The Graduate School and also as an adjunct faculty member for the School of Communications. Palm earned bachelor's and master's degrees from GVSU.

Palm was a longtime member of the Women's Commission. Members will rename the Women's Community Impact Award to the Jennifer Palm Community Impact Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of women at GVSU and in the community. The commission will host its Celebrating Women Awards ceremony on October 2.

She earned the commission's Maxine Swanson Award and was a member of the Women's Commission's Family Leave Task Force that earned an AP Outstanding Team Project award.

Kristen Evans, commission member and Human Resources generalist, said Palm was instrumental in planning drives to collect feminine hygiene products for students.

"Jenn made us better, collectively and as individuals," Evans said. "She was a true, tested and tireless advocate for social justice and made that known not through self labeling but through her actions and examples."

Memorials in Palm's name are suggested to MomsBloom.

Jo Ella Kilpatrick, retired staff member
Jo Ella Kilpatrick, retired budget and research assistant, died July 23, 2024. She was 91.

Kilpatrick began working at Grand Valley in 1964 and retired in 1991.

Patricia Sokolow, retired staff member
Patricia Sokolow, retired library associate, died July 12, 2024. She was 78.

Sokolow worked at Grand Valley from 1991-2012.

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