Kathleen A. Blatz is a former Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 judge and politician.

Blatz was born in Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 to Kay and Jerome Blatz

Jerome Blatz

Jerome Blatz drafted Bloomington, Minnesota's first City Charter as an attorney and represented Bloomington in the Minnesota Senate from 1963 to 1965 and from 1967 to 1977. Although elected on a non-partisan basis, he was a registered Republican.-References:...

. She attended high school at the Academy of Holy Angels

Academy of Holy Angels

The Academy of Holy Angels is a Catholic, coeducational high school located in Richfield, Minnesota. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Holy Angels educates more than 820 students each year in grades nine through twelve from around the Twin Cities...

 in Richfield, Minnesota

Richfield, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 34,439 people, 15,073 households, and 8,727 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,993.9 people per square mile . There were 15,357 housing units at an average density of 2,226.9 per square mile...

, and received her B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

. Blatz received degrees from the University of Minnesota Law School

University of Minnesota Law School

The University of Minnesota Law School, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers a Juris Doctor , Masters of Law for Foreign Lawyers, and joint degrees with J.D./M.B.A., J.D./M.P.A, J.D./M.A., J.D./M.S., J.D./Ph.D.,...

 and the University of Minnesota School of Social Work

University of Minnesota School of Social Work

The School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota is a top-ranked graduate school of social work. The University of Minnesota School of Social Work, established in 1917, is the oldest graduate social work program in public land grant university. In addition, the doctoral program, established...

.

Blatz served in the Minnesota House of Representatives

Minnesota House of Representatives

The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...

 from 1979 to 1994. She was appointed a Hennepin County

Hennepin County, Minnesota

Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...

 district court judge in 1994, associate justice of Minnesota Supreme Court

Minnesota Supreme Court

The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota and consists of seven members. The court was first assembled as a three-judge panel in 1849 when Minnesota was still a territory. The first members were lawyers from outside of the region who were appointed by...

 on November 1, 1996, and Chief Justice on January 29, 1998. She retired from the court on January 10, 2006, and was succeeded as Chief Justice by Russell A. Anderson

Russell A. Anderson

Russell A. Anderson is an attorney and former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He served as an Associate Justice of the court from September 1, 1998 until he was sworn in as Chief Justice on January 10, 2006. He retired from the Supreme Court on June 1, 2008, at age 66, and was...

. Since 2006, she has served as a director/trustee on the Columbia RiverSource Boards.

Blatz is the daughter of Kay and Jerome Blatz

Jerome Blatz

Jerome Blatz drafted Bloomington, Minnesota's first City Charter as an attorney and represented Bloomington in the Minnesota Senate from 1963 to 1965 and from 1967 to 1977. Although elected on a non-partisan basis, he was a registered Republican.-References:...

. She currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

.