Marilyn Shuler, heralded as one of Idaho’s long-time human rights advocates, died Thursday. She was 77.
Shuler served as Executive Director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission for twenty years, from 1978 to 1998. She also worked with numerous human rights groups across the state.
The Idaho Statesman reports Shuler served on the original board of Boise State University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, on the advisory board of BSU’s College of Public Affairs at the Boise State, on the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, and was also a member of the Boise School Board.
In a released statement, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus said, "Carol and I extend our deepest condolences to Marilyn's family and to her thousands and thousands of friends and admirers in Idaho and across the country. Idaho has lost its greatest champion for human rights and basic decency. Marilyn Shuler was our moral compass in the ongoing fight to ensure that all people are treated with respect, dignity, compassion and as the law and the Constitution demand.
"Although small in physical stature and forced to overcome her own physical limitations, Marilyn was an absolute giant in the fight for human rights. I benefited greatly from her consistently wise counsel. Marilyn brought real grace, great intelligence, the highest degree of integrity and genuine moral leadership to her decades long leadership of human rights efforts in Idaho.
"Her death is a huge loss for all Idahoans committed to the cause of human rights, but I take heart in knowing that Marilyn's message to us will continue to be, as it always has been, simple and profound - fight on, do the right thing and be courageous in pushing back against hatred and bigotry."
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
