Currently serving term
09-14-11 through 09-14-14
Kathleen Tom has 0 blog posts
Kathleen Tom is a fourth-generation Tribal Council member. She was born Jan. 11, 1953, in Grand Ronde, the youngest daughter of Leon “Chips” and Marianne Kent-Tom. Her father served on the Restoration Tribal Council in the 1990s during the creation of Spirit Mountain Casino and the Spirit Mountain Community Fund.
After federal Termination in 1954, the Tom family was relocated to Colorado by the federal government in 1955, but eventually moved back to the Grand Ronde area. Her family finally settled in Salem where she grew up and calls her second home.
She attended North Salem High School, Chemeketa Community College and Western Business College. It didn’t take her long to realize she did not want a career sitting in an office and went to work for her mother, who owned and operated multiple businesses in the Salem area.
An early entrepreneur at the age of 4, Kathleen knew she wanted career independence. And, given the strong leadership example of her mother and father, she had many opportunities to explore different career opportunities. Prior to her election in 2005, she had her own business as a private investigator, which was one of her most interesting and enjoyable jobs.
Kathleen was elected to Tribal Council in September 2005 and re-elected in 2008. During her second term of office she served as the Tribal Council Secretary. She was re-elected to the Tribal Council in 2011 and is now serving her third term.
Kathleen is proud to follow in the footsteps of her parents who were and still are strong advocates of doing what inspires your passion. She is very proud to say that she has followed in her ancestors’ footsteps for four generations. As a leader of the Grand Ronde Tribe, she takes this role as her most challenging but most rewarding.
Kathleen’s dream is to share her passion and commitment for her Tribe with her son, Mason. Her sincere hope is that someday he follows in her footsteps, and the footsteps of his ancestors, as one of the leaders of the Tribe.
“What better way or job can a person have than to serve the membership of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde,” she said. “My goal is to keep the Tribe’s story of Termination and Restoration on the forefront of our fellow Oregonians and with key stakeholders. We can never allow the horror of Termination to revisit our people again.”
Ms. Tom lives in Grand Ronde and Salem, and is married to Louis King, programs officer for Spirit Mountain Community Fund.