Meet Tim
Tim’s parents and family have experienced the benefits that education and hard work can create. A stable and happy life. He wants to continue his work and create similar opportunities for the citizens in the 92nd district.
Tim has spent much of his life as a Mt. Pleasant community member. He is a sixth-generation Michigander on his father’s side and a son of an immigrant on his mother’s side. He attended Mt. Pleasant Public Schools and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Michigan University. He went on to achieve a law degree at Pierce Law Center at the University of New Hampshire.
While out east he met and married his wife Beth, of 34 years, who is an early childhood special education teacher and speech and language therapist working for the Gratiot-Isabella Regional Education Service District. After their first child, they moved back to Mt. Pleasant to be near family and to raise their three now-grown children, Timothy Ryan, Kate, and Emily. All three went through Mt. Pleasant Public Schools and worked hard to receive educations that led to careers that have supported their happiness and success.
When the Odykirk’s moved back to Mt. Pleasant Tim joined the family’s restaurant management and real estate development business that owned and ran multiple restaurants in the central Michigan area. He currently works at CMU in the College of Education and Human Services as the Associate Director of University Relations in the Charter Schools Office. He has been there for the past 21 years helping build pathways for underserved students in K-12 schools to higher education and careers.
Tim’s story is one of commitment, hard work, fighting to overcome life’s challenges and dedication to family, friends, and community.
Tim has been dedicated for years to improving the lives of children and families in central Michigan.
He is a member of the Mt. Pleasant Public schools board of education. For the past 16 years he has listened, learned, and helped to help build an educational system that is empowering and supporting students and staff. Nine of the 16 years he was the board president, four as vice president.
He has also been the school board’s representative for the Sex Education Advisory Board, Professional Studies Curriculum Committee, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
Tim also co-founded Mt. Pleasant Education Foundation.
Tim has been a strong advocate for habitat protection.
He was on the board of the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy for 21 years and continues to sit on the governance Committee, whose mission is to protect and restore Central Michigan’s land, water, and wildlife resources to improve the quality of life for all by protecting and preserving wildlife habitats, agricultural lands, recreational lands, and water quality in the 5 central counties of Michigan.
