By Lori EhdeA prominent figure in the local arts community died Tuesday in the Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Center.Ruth Okarski, who died at 89 years old, is credited for breathing life into the local arts scene when she moved from New York State to Luverne in 1966 with her husband, Joe.She reportedly was generous with her free time, organizing film series, lecture series with big-name authors and coordinating numerous local programs in the arts.Most notably, Okarski founded the Council for Arts and Humanities in Rock County.CAHRC now serves as the umbrella organization for local groups such as the Fine Arts Association (which displays art in the Carnegie Cultural Center), Rock County Historical Society, Blue Mound Wood Carvers, Green Earth Players and Blue Mound Area Theater Inc. Her obituary (which appears on page 8A) notes that Okarski was a member of the Minnesota Humanities Commission representing the Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council. She also served on the board of Blue Mound Area Theatre Inc.Luverne’s Fran Appelt described Okarski as "a very great, brilliant person."Their mutual interest in the arts drew them to each other as friends, Appelt said."She really enjoyed the arts and just kept pushing for things. … At one time we had community concerts. We used to have really wonderful programs in the high school theatre."Her son David remembers his mother being a driving force behind local arts efforts, but said she was modest about her successes."She always got the movers and shakers involved, and then was always genuniely surprised when she got credit," David said."She was proud of what she did, but she was always modest to the extent that whenever there was a success, she was always pleased and surprised that things had worked out," David said."She always felt that it was other people who had done it – not herself. Memorial services will be at 1 p.m. Friday in Dingmann Funeral Home with an hour of fellowship prior to the service.
