LPS mourns finance director Kemper

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By MARGARET REIST / Lincoln Journal Star

Friends and colleagues were mourning the loss Thursday of Tim Kemper, Lincoln Public Schools’ finance director who was well-known and respected for his expertise in education financing.

“It’s a tremendous loss for us,” said LPS Superintendent Susan Gourley. “Tim was a wonderful colleague and an equally wonderful friend. He was so bright, so talented, and so highly regarded in education and government. And not just in Lincoln but throughout the state.”

Kemper, 53, had been finance director with LPS since 1994, and before that was administrator of school finance for the Nebraska Department of Education.

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Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said deputies were called to Kemper’s address Thursday morning on a welfare check. Paramedics took someone to the hospital with a gunshot wound. Deputies don't suspect foul play but would make no further comments Thursday night. 

In February, he’d suffered severe head injuries when his SUV overturned on the way to work. Colleagues said he’d made an amazing recovery and was back at work within just a few months of the accident.

Gourley said he knew as much about education financing in the state as anyone.

Dennis Van Horn, former LPS associate superintendent of business affairs and a good friend of Kemper’s, called him brilliant.

“He used that knowledge to benefit students,” Van Horn said. “It wasn’t just students in Lincoln Public Schools; it was students all across this state. He was looked up to by his peers and we’re going to miss him.”

Kemper was born in Elmhurst, Ill., and later moved with his family to Nebraska, living in several communities before graduating from high school in Clay Center. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Doane College in 1978.

He went to work the next year for the Department of Education. He was promoted to the administrative position in 1990.

That same year, he was recognized by the Nebraska Council for School Administrators for his assistance in developing LB1059, a landmark school finance measure that restructured state aid in Nebraska to make it need-based.

“That’s what Tim was all about,” Van Horn said. “Tim wanted to see all school districts get sufficient resources to provide a quality education to all students. He dedicated his professional life to seeing that happen.”

But his friends and colleagues say they’ll remember Kemper most for his compassion and kind heart.

Kemper loved horses, a passion that began when his daughters got into riding. Gourley recalled once, when a colleague’s daughter was considering buying a horse, he let the family borrow one of his to make sure that’s what she really wanted.

“Tim had a heart as big as it comes and it was a heart of gold.” Van Horn said. “Tim would do anything for anybody.”

In addition to his two daughters, Kemper is survived by two sisters, a brother and his mother. He was preceded in death by his father.

The family is planning a celebration of life on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the auditorium of Southwest High School, 7001 S. 14th St.

The family asked that in lieu of flowers, memorials be sent to the Kemper family at 1620 S. Folsom St., No. 5, Lincoln, Neb., 68522.

Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com.