Bev Scalze, a former Minnesota lawmaker, entrepreneur, wildlife artist and longtime civic leader from Little Canada, died Wednesday following a battle with cancer, colleagues said. She was 77.
Scalze’s career in public service ran deep. Between 1979 and 2002, she served on the Little Canada City Council and held positions on a host of civic bodies, including the PTA, chamber of commerce and Ramsey County League of Local Governments.
She ran unsuccessfully for the Minnesota House as a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate in 2002, but was elected in 2004 and served in the House until 2012, when she was elected to the state Senate. She served until 2016, when she opted not to seek re-election.
Scalze co-authored the 2008 Legacy Amendment that funds the outdoors, arts and cultural heritage, and she worked on numerous public infrastructure bills.
Her years in the Legislature touched many, according to a number of lawmakers who spoke of her on the Senate floor Thursday before standing in silence in her memory.
“She was among the most dedicated public officials I have ever known,” said Sen. Chuck Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, who said he knew Scalze for some 40 years. “She was impactful. She took issues to heart and always sought a consensus.”
Sen. Jason Isaacson, DFL-Shoreview, who succeeded Scalze, shared an anecdote of the first time he spoke to her. Isaacson said he called to tell her he wanted to run for her seat when she decided to retire.
“She hung up on me,” Isaacson chuckled, conceding his ambitions at the time were premature. “She had little time for someone who hadn’t proven themselves.” However, Isaacson said, it was Scalze who several years later called him and asked him to run for her seat when she decided to retire.
“The one word that comes to mind to me personally is ‘pleasant,'” Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said Thursday. “It was just good to be around her.”
Scalze was born in Baudette and studied art in the metro, earning degrees from the College of Visual Arts in White Bear Lake and Century College. In 1991, her depiction of a brook trout won the Department of Natural Resources’ annual Trout and Salmon Habitat Stamp contest.
In 1996, Scalze and her husband, Bob, purchased Hoffman Corner Heating and Air Conditioning. Bob Scalze died in 2018. At the time, the couple, who had been married 55 years, had two children and five grandchildren.
Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, said Scalze’s deep ties in the north metro were apparent last year during a drive-by birthday party that friends and family held for her.
“There were 75 cars that drove by her house with signs,” Pappas said.
Pappas recalled a quote Scalze said once: “You do a lot of things for your kids, but you go to the wall for your grandchildren. I want to leave them with something they can be proud of.”
Services for Bev Scalze had not been finalized as of Thursday afternoon.
