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Marquette County is stronger because of leaders like Karlyn Rapport, whose decades of service have opened doors, strengthened lives and created opportunities for generations of women and girls.
Some people make a difference in their communities through a single accomplishment. Others spend a lifetime identifying needs, bringing people together and building solutions that endure long after the work begins. Karlyn Rapport belongs firmly in the latter category, and her selection as the 2026 Evergreen Award of Marquette County recipient is a fitting recognition of a remarkable legacy of service.
Rapport was honored at the annual awards luncheon on Monday at the Holiday Inn in Marquette. The award recognizes individuals who mentor and support women and girls, demonstrate leadership in their professional and volunteer endeavors, and dedicate their time and talents to improving the quality of life in their communities. Few people illustrate those ideals as consistently as Rapport has over more than six decades.
Her career began in clinical speech pathology, where she helped establish a communication rehabilitation department at Marquette General Hospital. But her commitment to improving lives extended well beyond her profession. Rapport recognized that a healthy community requires more than medical care. It also requires compassion, access to essential services, and a willingness to confront difficult problems that too often go unaddressed.
In 1973, she was among the women who helped establish the Marquette Women’s Center. She also played an instrumental role in developing services for survivors of domestic violence, including the initiative that eventually became Harbor House. These efforts reflect a particularly important kind of leadership: seeing the needs of vulnerable people, recognizing that existing resources are insufficient, and working with others to create meaningful change.
That same determination has characterized Rapport’s work in healthcare access and public service. She helped establish the Medical Care Access Coalition to improve healthcare access for uninsured and low-income residents, served as a Marquette County commissioner and contributed to organizations including the Marquette County Board of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters.
Each of these commitments speaks to a consistent belief that communities thrive when people take responsibility for one another. Rapport has not confined her service to one cause or one organization. Instead, she has responded to a broad range of needs, helping build the institutions and services that allow individuals and families to live with greater dignity and opportunity.
What makes her recognition especially meaningful is that her service continues. As a founding board member of Reproductive Health Resources, established in 2025, Rapport is helping address financial barriers to reproductive healthcare in the Upper Peninsula. Even after decades of community involvement, she remains willing to take on new challenges and help develop solutions to emerging needs.
There is another reason this year’s honor feels particularly appropriate: Rapport was the inaugural recipient of the Evergreen Award in 2007. Her return as the 2026 honoree brings the award’s purpose full circle. The recognition first celebrated her contributions nearly two decades ago, and her continued involvement in community life demonstrates that the values represented by the award are not temporary achievements. They are commitments renewed year after year.
The luncheon also recognized Anna Schnizler, recipient of the 2026 Lifelong Learning Scholarship. A nontraditional student at Northern Michigan University studying biology with a concentration in ecology, Schnizler is pursuing a new professional direction while maintaining a strong academic record, working part time and conducting research on ground-squirrel hibernation.
Marquette County benefits when people like Rapport devote their experience, energy and compassion to the common good. Her contributions have helped establish services, improve access to care, strengthen civic participation and create support for people facing difficult circumstances. Just as important, her example encourages others to step forward rather than assume someone else will address a problem.
Honoring Rapport is therefore about more than celebrating an impressive personal history. It is an opportunity to recognize the kind of community we want to sustain: one in which women and girls are encouraged to lead, people in need are not overlooked and public service is understood as an ongoing responsibility rather than an occasional gesture.