[EDRM Editor’s Note: With gratitude to Doug Austin of our Trusted Partner eDiscovery Today, we share this memorial, originally published on August 20, 2025, and republished here with permission.]
This may be the toughest memorial post I’ve ever had to publish. Yesterday, many of us learned that Kaylee Walstad died suddenly and unexpectedly.
Craig Ball may have said it best when he said that he was “writing through tears”. Make that two of us.
Kaylee’s LinkedIn byline said she is a “Connector of People. Community Evangelist. People. Partners. Makes Things Happen. Community Builder.” Somehow, those powerful words still don’t fully do her justice.
Her LinkedIn About section said (among other things) that her “Glass is ALWAYS Full”. Indeed.
Craig published a terrific write-up about her yesterday here and described her perfectly as “the loving, nurturing mom of our e-discovery community; our tireless cheerleader, stalwart friend, and steady heart. She showed up for everyone—eager to listen, to soothe, to lift burdens from others’ shoulders. She was generosity and kindness incarnate. Wise and warm, radiant and real, she was simply one of a kind.”
That was Kaylee.
I met Kaylee over nine years ago when she and Mary Mack were running ACEDS and they had a conference in NYC. As Craig described Kaylee, she was “Minnesota Nice” to me first thing in the morning and I thought “who has that much enthusiasm so early in the morning when I haven’t even had my coffee?”
Kaylee had that. All day, every day.
And that was a really good thing for those she worked with and tirelessly promoted. She did that for many of us, including me – from Drinks with Doug and Mary happy hours to numerous EDRM webinars.
EDRM has conducted support calls every week since the pandemic started back in 2020 – at the beginning, they used to conduct them twice a week. Like many, I came to the calls when I lost my job (in my case, right after the pandemic started). Kaylee, Mary and Craig not only reached out to me, but helped me get a new blog – eDiscovery Today – started. Last night, EDRM conducted their 288th call – I think Kaylee missed one that entire time. I joked last night (through tears) that this is what it takes for her to miss a support call.
But Kaylee did more than attend – she listened to everyone. If someone was experiencing struggles, she would tell them that she would set a call up with them for Mary and her to help them out. At the end of each call, she would call out each person by name and provide words of praise or encouragement or something to let them know they were being heard. She was always thinking of others and what they needed on those calls.
That’s what Kaylee did.
Yesterday, I was part of a webinar on the EDRM network, and I had not yet heard the news that Kaylee had passed (I found out shortly afterward when someone called me to tell me the news). The webinar went great – kudos to Mary Mack (who had gotten the news by that point) and Holley Robinson, who did a great job with the promo announcements. The webinar went “without a hitch”.
But something was missing. Kaylee’s enthusiasm and boundless energy was missing.
I love participating in webinars on the EDRM network and participating in Tuesday support calls with people from the eDiscovery community. And I will continue to do so. But they will never be the same again.
It was great to see so many people share their thoughts and remembrances about Kaylee in last night’s call – many of whom had just heard the news of her passing. Many tears were shed – and there will undoubtedly be many more to come.
It’s still a shock to me that she’s gone. Craig closed his write-up by saying that “Kaylee lives on in the hearts of all she lifted, encouraged, and loved.”
The hearts are many, including mine.
Rest in peace, Kaylee Walstad. ❤️
Read the original memorial here.
Assisted by GAI and LLM Technologies per EDRM GAI and LLM Policy.
