Lou C. Kerr

      Lou C. Kerr was born to Lem Z. Coker and Manolia Mae Coker (Beck) on January 24, 1937, in Oklahoma City, the eighth of ten siblings. She was a proud graduate of Capitol Hill High School Class of 1955. Not long after graduating she began her professional career at the front desk at KWTV. Following her time there she became the manager of several night clubs in the city, including The Red Lady Club and The Rathskeller. She managed the clubs and provided the entertainment as a singer for the patrons. Later, she opened The Jade Shoppe in Shepard Mall where she proudly provided many girls with their prom dresses over many years. Later, she became a trustee, then President and Chair of The Kerr Foundation, Inc., a position she held through 2023. It was this role that allowed her gifts and passion to be realized - her true calling and purpose was ignited and served endless people, causes and organizations.

In the early 1970s she met the man who would become the love of her life, Robert S. “Bob” Kerr, Jr. They married in 1972 and enjoyed one grand adventure after another for the next 32 years until Bob passed in 2004. Lou was the proud mother to two children, Steven and Laura Kerr. She also was blessed with five “bonus” kids: Bobby, Shari, Cody, Bill and Valerie Kerr. This Brady Bunch of a family kept her quite busy hosting many family dinners and celebrations. She loved each of her nine grandkids and seven great-grandchildren and enjoyed spoiling them and making sure they knew that she had ideas for each of them. Talking with her hands, she would tell each of them what it was they needed to do.

Lou’s accomplishments are too many to list. They included service on numerous boards and commissions, including: Allied Arts, ASTEC Fund, OK Capitol Preservation Commission, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, National Public Radio, Oklahoma Arts Institute, National Symphony Orchestra, OK Medical Research Foundation, Sister Cities International OKC, Tulsa Ballet, Women in Aviation, Oklahoma City University, Board of Visitors of OU International Studies, OU College of Nursing and OU College of Fine Arts, International Women’s Forum, Friends of the Governor’s Mansion, Lyric Theatre, Red Earth, Plaza District, OK School of Science & Math, National Academy of Public Administration, First Tee OKC, OK Dispute Resolution Advisory Board, White House Commission on Aging, OK Commission on the Status of Women, Friends of the Capitol among many others. She was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the OK Women’s Hall of Fame, Honorary Doctorates at OCU and Bacone College, Oklahoma Creativity Ambassador, OKC Public Schools Wall of Fame, the OK Journal Record Lifetime Achievement Award, Honorary Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, OK Governor’s Arts Award, and many, many others including having March 2, 2005 proclaimed as “Lou C. Kerr Day” in Oklahoma by Governor Henry.

Lou is survived by her children, Steven Kerr (Beth), and Laura Kerr (Jimmee), as well as her bonus kids, Robert S. “Bob” Kerr, III, Sharon Mort-Kerr (Andrew), Cody T. Kerr, William R. Kerr (Shannon), and Valerie Kerr Hart (Dan); her grandchildren: James Kerr, Wilson Kerr (Devyn), Taylor Ogle Dillard (Mikey), Jackson Ogle (Carina), Robert S. “Sam” Kerr, IV (Jennifer), Kiersten Kerr Bauer (Brock), Katherine “Katie” Kerr (Matthew), Mary Grayce Thies (Adam), and Elizabeth Hart. Also, her great grandchildren, Hudson, Hadley, Ayden, Beckham, Cohen, and Lily. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Kerr, her parents and her siblings.

Following a private interment, Lou’s life will be celebrated at St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Oklahoma City on April 3, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Lou C. Kerr Chair for Women’s Health at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, or the Thelma Gaylord Academy at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.