The Untold Truth Of Erika Kirk's Mother Lori Frantzve

After Charlie Kirk's tragic death in September, his widow, Erika Kirk, has been thrust into the spotlight. The blonde beauty was once a pageant queen who won the Miss Arizona crown, but more recently had settled into life as a happily married mother of two. Following her husband's passing, Erika's world changed overnight. Not only did Erika post a powerful message addressing Charlie's legions of fans on Instagram just two days after his death, but she has also stepped up big time when it comes to his company. She was named the CEO of Turning Point USA just eight days after his assassination. 

Now that Erika has become a household name, the public is becoming increasingly curious about her past. While she previously espoused conservative, traditional views about gender roles and the importance of being a stay-at-home mom, particularly on her husband's podcast, "The Charlie Kirk Show" back in April 2025, it's interesting to note that she was actually raised by a fiercely independent single mother, Lori Frantzve. Curious to learn more about Erika's surprisingly untraditional upbringing? We're taking a look at the woman who raised her and digging into the untold story of Frantzve.

Erika Kirk hasn't been shy about her conservative views, once claiming on her husband Charlie Kirk's podcast, "The Charlie Kirk Show," that "your husband has to be the one that goes out into the world and builds and battles and comes home," while the wife should be at home ready to welcome him and cater to his needs. But after digging deeper into her childhood, those traditional views turn out to be pretty surprising. Erika's mother, Lori Frantzve, was not only a single mother but also worked outside the home and became a very successful businesswoman.

According to Lori's LinkedIn profile, the busy mom worked for General Electric for almost two decades. She continues to work in the network security industry and has since started her own companies — a far cry from the type of mother Erika seems to favor. Frantzve raised Erika in Scottsdale, Arizona, while continuing to further her career.

These days, Erika's viewpoints seem to align more with the way Frantzve raised her. She opened up to Fox News in December 2025 about her changing roles now that she's also CEO of her late husband's company, sharing, "Yes, alongside our great team, [I'm] running Turning Point USA. Yes, I'm raising my babies. And you don't separate those into different boxes. They can all coexist. And so, yeah, I take my babies to the office. I want my kids to see what their father built."

Lori Frantzve not only served as a great role model for her daughter, but also pulled double duty as an involved single mom and an incredibly successful businesswoman. She also worked hard to instill that belief in her daughter. Despite publicly voicing the importance of traditional gender roles, Erika did open up about her upbringing at a Revival of Biblical Womanhood event in June 2025. While speaking at the event, Erika shared that her mother's teachings did have an impact on her.

"Trust me, I was wired at a very young age, because I was raised by a single mom, never let yourself be in a position where you can't support yourself, and don't rely on a man. That was ingrained in me," Erika explained (via YouTube). The former pageant queen then added that meeting Charlie Kirk completely changed all that, revealing, "Before I met Charlie, I was not on the path of 'I want to have six kids and a white picket house fence.' That was not my mindset. But this is how amazing God is. When you meet the right man, everything shifts. Everything changes. When I met Charlie, that was it. I [couldn't] care less about the career." She went on to explain that motherhood should not be seen as a waste of your education when you're raising your kids with the right morals. We wonder how career-minded Lori feels about that!

Despite being a busy working mom, Lori Frantzve made sure to teach her daughter, Erika Kirk, to be a giving person. Erika once shed more light on her childhood while speaking to AZ Foothills Magazine. The outlet interviewed her during her run as Miss Arizona back in 2012 — right before she competed in the Miss USA competition, which was then owned by Donald Trump — and at the time she shared some stories from her youth to explain how she became interested in competing in pageants. 

"My mom used to take us to soup kitchens and constantly said we needed to share our blessings with others," Erika explained. "When I learned that by competing I could touch more people, further my causes, I knew it was a chance to make a greater impact." That solid foundation from Lori led her daughter to start her own charity, Everyday Heroes Like You, which helps raise funds for charities in need. Erika didn't want to pigeonhole herself with just one cause, explaining, "I have a passion to help people in general so when I was creating my nonprofit, I didn't want to focus on [just] kids or animals, I wanted to make it all-encompassing, find a way [to] help everyone in a unified way."

Today, Erika Kirk is a very vocal evangelical Christian. As the newly appointed CEO of Turning Point USA following her husband Charlie Kirk's death, the organization's TPUSA Faith branch has doubled its church network, according to Fox News. But Erika's mother, Lori Frantzve, actually raised her daughter as a devout Catholic. Erika not only grew up going to church, but graduated from a private Catholic high school in Scottsdale, Notre Dame Preparatory, in 2007. 

Erika spoke about her Catholic upbringing in a 2025 interview, explaining (via Wake Up Church Now), "I was baptized. ... I went through the sacraments, all of that. ... I just never understood, why can't I go directly to Jesus. Why do I have to tell my priest my sins instead of just saying it straight to our Lord?" Despite the switch, she did share what she loved about her former faith, noting in that same interview, "I love that no matter where you go in the world, no matter what Catholic church you go to, it's the same type of program, if you will, of when you say these prayers, when you stand up, when you sit down, when you pray." However, she explained that she later realized her priority was her personal relationship with Christ, and that the Catholic Church presents too many barriers to connecting with Jesus.

When Erika Kirk learned the unimaginable news — that her husband Charlie Kirk had been assassinated while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University — she was with her mother, Lori Frantzve. While speaking to Fox News, Erika detailed the horrific moment she was notified of the shooting, explaining, "I was at my mom's doctor's appointment. I had my phone, and I see the video come in of him flinging out the hats. And I said, 'Mom, look, it started!' ... I put my phone down, and it was on silent, so I had no reason to look back at it. I moved my mom, I went back to grab my phone, and that's when Mikey [McCoy] started calling me. He called me within seconds."

Her husband's chief of staff broke the news to Erika over the phone and advised her to get her kids and security as soon as possible. "I sprinted out of her treatment center and just collapsed in the middle of the parking lot," Erika revealed, describing the entire experience as "a nightmare."

Erika Kirk and her mother, Lori Frantzve, had a close relationship, so it's only natural that Lori was also close to Erika's late husband. Erika and Charlie Kirk first met in 2018, when Erika was interviewing at Turning Point USA, Charlie's company. "I realized Mama was beautiful and smart and elegant and Christlike, and so I said, 'Forget this job interview. I want to date you,'" Charlie recounted to their daughter in an Instagram video shared by Erika after his death. The pair were married in 2021.

Erika revealed that Charlie and Frantzve shared a special relationship while celebrating her mother's birthday on Instagram in 2022. Alongside a carousel of photos of her mother, Erika wrote in part, "I love the way you love others. ... I love the way my husband loves you, it's such a special bond." Following Charlie's death, Erika opened up further about their bond on "The Charlie Kirk Show," recalling, "They had a very good relationship. My mom and Charlie were best friends. We joked around that he was the favorite child. She loved him. And still loves him." She went on to explain that her mother told Charlie he had an "amazing voice" prior to his death, and that she even predicted that he would be the Rush Limbaugh of his generation.