Mary Ellen Otremba

Who was Mary Ellen Otremba?

Mary Ellen Dinkel Otremba was an American politician and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represented District 11B, which includes portions of Douglas and Todd counties in the west central part of the state. A Democrat, she was also a substitute teacher and farmer. On May 19, 2010, she announced that she would not seek an eighth term.

Otremba was first elected in a November 4, 1997, special election held after the death of her husband, Representative Ken Otremba, that September. She chaired the House Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Committee, and was a member of the Ways and Means Committee. She also served on the Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee for the Veterans Affairs Division, and on the Finance subcommittees for the Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Finance Division and the Health Care and Human Services Finance Division. She was an assistant minority leader from 2001-2004.

Otremba graduated from Long Prairie High School in Long Prairie, then went on to the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, receiving a B.A. in Home and Community Service. She later attended St.