6 things to know about Tim Walz’s family: From adorable pets to heartbreaking loss

6 things to know about Tim Walz’s family

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his family have been in the political spotlight since Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced that he would be her running mate for the 2024 election. While 60-year-old Walz, who has served as governor since 2019, is a seasoned politician, he is also a dedicated family man. Here is everything you need to know about his family, including his wife, his two children, and their two pets.

1. Who is Tim Walz’s wife?

Tim Walz is married to Gwen Walz, with whom he shares a daughter named Hope and a son named Gus. Born in Glencoe, Minnesota, Gwen, whose maiden name is Whipple, is a veteran educator and prison reform advocate. She attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter and Minnesota State University in Mankato before starting her teaching career as an English educator in Nebraska. Gwen also served as an administrator and coordinator for the Mankato Area Public Schools, according to Newsweek. Additionally, she worked closely with the Bard Prison Initiative in New York, which aims to provide inmates with greater educational opportunities.

2. How did Tim Walz meet his wife?

After graduating from Chadron State College, Tim Walz took a teaching job with the non-profit organization WorldTeach and worked in China for a year. Upon his return, he began his teaching career in Nebraska, where he eventually met his future wife. The couple married in 1994 and moved to Mankato in southern Minnesota, where they both worked as teachers at Mankato West High School. At the Mankato Area Public Schools, Tim taught social studies and helped coach the football team. In 1999, they began organizing summer trips to China for their students, traveling there nearly every summer through 2003.

3. Who are Tim Walz’s children?

 Tim Walz is a proud father of two children: daughter Hope, 23, and son Gus, 18. The couple welcomed their children through IVF. Recently, Walz shared on Facebook, "Gwen and I have two beautiful children because of reproductive healthcare like IVF. This issue is deeply personal to our family and so many others." According to records, Hope was convicted of two petty misdemeanors for speeding—once in 2017 and once in 2019. In 2017, she was fined $225 plus additional fees, and in 2019, she was fined $198, as reported by Newsweek.

4. Tim Walz’s journey with IVF

Although Tim Walz welcomed his two children through IVF, the process was initially challenging. Recently, he shared his struggle on Facebook, writing, "When my wife and I decided to have children, we spent years undergoing fertility treatments. I remember praying each night for a call with good news and the agony when we heard the treatments hadn’t worked. When we finally welcomed our daughter into the world, we named her Hope."

5. What are the names of Tim Walz’s pets

Tim Walz's family is completed by his two pets: a rescue cat and a rescue dog. His rescue dog, Scout, is a black lab mix adopted from the Midwest Animal Rescue in 2019. In February 2024, Walz adopted a rescue cat named Honey from the Animal Humane Society.

6. Tragic death of Tim Walz’s brother

Tim Walz is no stranger to family misfortune, having lost one of his brothers in a tragic accident in 2016. During a severe storm in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) at Duncan Lake in Minnesota, a tree fell on his brother Craig, resulting in his death. Craig's son Jacob, who was just eight years old at the time, suffered serious injuries but fortunately made a recovery, according to Business Insider.