When bride-to-be Roberta Kjelgaard walks down the aisle to her awaiting groom, Jim Heom, this month, it will be just another day at the office. Kjelgaard is the institutional advancement director at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, where lush landscapes and blossoming flowers provide the perfect setting for a romantic wedding.
This will be the second time the 67-year-old Delray Beach resident has tied the knot. Her divorce more than 20 years ago proved transformative, leading her to a renewed sense of purpose and happiness.
“When I think back to that time, I thought my life was over,” she says. “I couldn’t possibly pick myself up, but I did, and it taught me it’s never too late. Now, I’m living my best life.”
A cultural center dedicated to Japanese art and living gardens, Morikami offers a serene setting many turn to when navigating life challenges. The Stroll for Well-Being Therapeutic Garden Walking program provides peace, tranquility and a place for reflection for participants, who can explore six gardens across 16 acres.
Kjelgaard has long been drawn to Morikami’s beauty. While raising her daughter, it became a favorite place to share with friends visiting her. When she heard about a job opening there, it was kismet.
“I’m curious about Japanese culture, and I live my life by concepts,” she says. “There’s this concept in Japanese called en, about connections and invisible threads that tie you to people, places and doing things at the right place at the right time.”
The “irresistible opportunity” to work at Morikami felt like an en moment, and Kjelgaard joined the team in October 2025. In her role, she stewards fundraising, securing major gifts, corporate sponsorships, grants and donors. Over the course of her career in arts and culture institutions, she has raised more than $40 million, and she will apply that experience to Morikami’s 50th anniversary campaign in 2027.
Although she didn’t inherit a green thumb, plants have always been part of Kjelgaard’s life. She was raised in State College, Pa., by her father, an agricultural engineer at Penn State, and her mother, who maintained a huge yard with a garden full of flowers, vegetables and berry bushes.
Kjelgaard has yet to visit Japan, but it has quickly risen to No. 1 on her bucket list. She hopes to see the cherry blossoms in the spring or foliage in the fall in cities such as Kyoto, Osaka, Hokkaido or Tokyo — perhaps even on her honeymoon.