In Memory Of
Karen L. Kaufmann
1936
2020
Karen L. Kaufmann
March 3, 1936 — November 1, 2020
Karen Lee Kaufmann (née Williams) died on Sunday November 1, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio unexpectedly. She was 84 years old.
She was born March 3, 1936 to Charles Allen Williams and Rita Marie Williams (née St. Pierre) in Bay City, Michigan.
Karen attended Bay City Central High School and graduated in 1953. She then attended Bay City Junior College where she met Kenneth Edward Kaufmann. The two were wed on January 25, 1955.
Between April 1956 and March 1962, they had four children. Shortly after the birth of their youngest, Ken was stricken with cancer and by July of 1962 Karen was a widow and single mother of four. She immediately enrolled in the nursing program at Delta College and received her RN in 1964.
She continued her education, earning a bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University and spent most of her career counseling and treating people suffering from alcoholism and heroin addiction. Karen spent a year at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut treating and counseling victims suffering from the burgeoning AIDS epidemic afflicting mostly young people.
Karen was a gifted musician and wonderful singer. She loved playing her piano much to the amusement of anyone within earshot. Her hobbies were plentiful, and she would commit into a new endeavor with the slightest encouragement or nudge.
These hobbies included but were not limited to knitting, cooking, entertaining, singing in chorale groups, blooper ball, beading, ceramics, weaving, reading, book collecting and pretty much anything else that just happened to tickle her fancy.
Karen was passionate about her children and grandchildren. She always made sure that they were loved and provided for. When the kids were grown, she loved to keep anyone willing to listen up to date on where they were and what they were up to.
Karen was preceded in death her husband, Kenneth Edward Kaufmann and is survived by her children Kenlynn Elizabeth Kaufmann (James Sharon) of Freeland, MI; Kam-Lauri Sarah Kaufmann (Michael Myers) of Ann Arbor, MI; Kenneth Hans Kaufmann (A. Beatrice Churchman) of Oakland, CA; Amanda Anne Kaufmann (Rusty Meike) of Columbus, OH as well as her two grandchildren Karsten Hans Kaufmann and Hadley Beatrice Kaufmann, her sister Judith Hitselberger, her nieces, nephew and friends.
She also leaves an incredibly wide swath of lives touched by her decades of selfless service to her profession and communities served.
She loved her kids and grandchildren, Dixieland Jazz and ice cream cones. She loved ice cream cones.
Cremation has been arranged per her wishes. Donations in her name can be made to the American Heart Association at https://www.heart.org/
To leave a message of condolence for the family click the "share" tab above.
She was born March 3, 1936 to Charles Allen Williams and Rita Marie Williams (née St. Pierre) in Bay City, Michigan.
Karen attended Bay City Central High School and graduated in 1953. She then attended Bay City Junior College where she met Kenneth Edward Kaufmann. The two were wed on January 25, 1955.
Between April 1956 and March 1962, they had four children. Shortly after the birth of their youngest, Ken was stricken with cancer and by July of 1962 Karen was a widow and single mother of four. She immediately enrolled in the nursing program at Delta College and received her RN in 1964.
She continued her education, earning a bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University and spent most of her career counseling and treating people suffering from alcoholism and heroin addiction. Karen spent a year at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut treating and counseling victims suffering from the burgeoning AIDS epidemic afflicting mostly young people.
Karen was a gifted musician and wonderful singer. She loved playing her piano much to the amusement of anyone within earshot. Her hobbies were plentiful, and she would commit into a new endeavor with the slightest encouragement or nudge.
These hobbies included but were not limited to knitting, cooking, entertaining, singing in chorale groups, blooper ball, beading, ceramics, weaving, reading, book collecting and pretty much anything else that just happened to tickle her fancy.
Karen was passionate about her children and grandchildren. She always made sure that they were loved and provided for. When the kids were grown, she loved to keep anyone willing to listen up to date on where they were and what they were up to.
Karen was preceded in death her husband, Kenneth Edward Kaufmann and is survived by her children Kenlynn Elizabeth Kaufmann (James Sharon) of Freeland, MI; Kam-Lauri Sarah Kaufmann (Michael Myers) of Ann Arbor, MI; Kenneth Hans Kaufmann (A. Beatrice Churchman) of Oakland, CA; Amanda Anne Kaufmann (Rusty Meike) of Columbus, OH as well as her two grandchildren Karsten Hans Kaufmann and Hadley Beatrice Kaufmann, her sister Judith Hitselberger, her nieces, nephew and friends.
She also leaves an incredibly wide swath of lives touched by her decades of selfless service to her profession and communities served.
She loved her kids and grandchildren, Dixieland Jazz and ice cream cones. She loved ice cream cones.
Cremation has been arranged per her wishes. Donations in her name can be made to the American Heart Association at https://www.heart.org/
To leave a message of condolence for the family click the "share" tab above.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Karen L. Kaufmann, please visit our flower store.
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