Karen M. Smith's Obituary
On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, Karen M. Smith passed away after a long battle with kidney disease.
Karen was born in 1941 to Raymond & Anna Scheffer in Detroit, Michigan. Karen had one brother, Robert, and one sister, Lucille, who both preceded her in death.
Karen received her bachelor’s degree from Oakland University and went on to earn her Master’s Degree in Slavic Languages. While at Indiana University, she was a teacher’s aide and taught Russian to U.S. Air Force airmen. Her future husband, Raymond Smith, was one of her students. They had a short courtship and were married on February 24, 1966, shortly before Ray was deployed to Tokyo, Japan.
While in Japan, Karen gave birth to a son, Adam, and subsequently, a daughter, Adrienne. Back in the states a few years later, Karen had four more daughters, Martha, Joanna, Deborah and Holly.
Ray and Karen started a printing company and ran it successfully for many years. Eventually, Karen went to work for TRW and then Wang Laboratories where she was a Proposal Specialist. She worked briefly at AT&T and then for CTA as a contractor to the Federal Aviation Administration. She was the Website Project Manager for CTA’s contract with the FAA for 15 years. Karen retired from CTA in 2013.
When her husband, Ray, passed away in 2014, Karen moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia to live with Martha and her husband, Keith.
Karen enjoyed knitting sweaters and blankets for her family. She was a fantastic cook and baker and passed many recipes down to her kids which are enjoyed by their families to this day. Karen’s love of nature, and especially trees, was immense. She would look up the names of trees if she couldn’t identify them. She insisted on planting trees in Martha’s treeless backyard after she moved in.
Karen was a devoted wife and mother, a breadwinner and provider to her family, a generous grandmother, and had a loving spirit. She was also a force to be reckoned with and taught her children that they are strong and can handle anything.
In addition to her children, she leaves behind 10 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life gathering for family and friends will be held in September.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her honor to The Arbor Day Foundation Buy Trees and Learn About Trees - Visit our Online Nursery. https://www.arborday.org/
What’s your fondest memory of Karen?
What’s a lesson you learned from Karen?
Share a story where Karen's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Karen you’ll never forget.
How did Karen make you smile?