(1936- )
Bemidji

Marilyn Heltzer spent her early days in the southern part of Minnesota, growing up in Morris, then attending college at the University of Minnesota. It was there that she met her husband, Jim Heltzer, raised three children, completed her college degree and later taught school.

Heltzer began working for Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) in St. Paul as a fund raising volunteer. In 1975, she was hired full time to run the membership department. In 1980, Heltzer became the producer of the Prairie Home Morning Show with host Garrison Keillor. When Keillor left the show to concentrate his efforts on his national program, A Prairie Home Companion, Heltzer hired new replacement hosts to create the ever-popular Morning Show, which is still heard on MPR's statewide music network. Heltzer went on to become the FM Network Program Director and then Vice President of Programming. In 1988 she "retired" from MPR.

Within a year of moving to Bemidji, Heltzer was coaxed out of retirement by MPR to work as the Bemidji station manager. She soon began serving on numerous nonprofit boards and committees in the area. She again retired from MPR in 1997 and now devotes herself full time to volunteer work and writing.

Marilyn Heltzer has strengthened the social fabric of the region. She was the driving force in building the MPR news and information station to serve north central Minnesota. She worked with engineers, community donors, and foundations to ensure that the news service could be heard in International Falls, Grand Rapids, Park Rapids, Bemidji, Bagley and all places in between.

As a board member of the Beltrami County Historical Society, she raised enough corporate donations to garner the local match necessary to receive a state appropriation to renovate the Great Northern Depot. When Heltzer served as the volunteer capital campaign coordinator of the Boys and Girls Club of the Bemidji area, she worked tirelessly to raise funds to modify and construct an addition to the old Bemidji High School to become the home of the Boys and Girls Club. Heltzer also served as a founding member of the Bemidji Area Public Library Foundation. Fellow founding member Judge Paul Benshoof said, "In large part due to Marilyn's unique powers of persuasion, the Bemidji City Council finally agreed to build a new library." The Meritcare Health System also experienced Heltzer's drive while she served as a board member. She and her colleagues more than doubled medical staff at various clinic sites, specialties were added, and she was a strong advocate for improved services delivered close to home for northwest Minnesota residents.

The list of Heltzer's board memberships goes on to include the Bemidji Rotary Club, United Way of Bemidji Area, Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce, Kitchigami Regional Library, and the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra. She is a founding member of a new group, the Bemidji Area Arts Alliance, fostering new ways to promote the arts in the region. And maybe most importantly, Heltzer is a Retired Senior Volunteer who reads with first grade students each week in Mrs. Yingling's class at Central School.

Heltzer's biggest love is writing. She has provided research and story ideas for A Prairie Home Companion and been published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Bemidji Pioneer and the Park Rapids Enterprise. Her work has brought recognition to the northern Minnesota lifestyle, writing about our common experiences of family and aging gracefully.