Karen Dexter Richardson died at her home in Atlanta, Georgia on May 10th , 2023, after an extended illness. A loving mother, wife, sister and friend, Karen dedicated her life to her family and her community. She is survived by her three children, Maureen, Matthew and Emily, six grandchildren, Reid, Grace, Graham, Celeste, Evelyn and Amelia, and her brother, Daniel.
Born in Florida in 1949, Karen graduated from Cornell University, where she met her husband Joseph Richardson. After college, they moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where they spent the next thirty years raising a family. When Joe retired, they relocated to Atlanta to be closer to their adult children. Karen spent her years devoting meaningful time and efforts to volunteer activities helping others in need. For over a decade she served as a guardian ad litem in Tampa, served on the Citizens Review Panel for the Fulton County Juvenile Court in Atlanta, faithfully volunteered weekly at the Free Clinic in St. Petersburg and Midtown Assistance Center in Atlanta, and served as a Eucharistic minister at the Episcopal church. After the death of Joe from pancreatic cancer in 2007, she spearheaded fundraising efforts for the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University.
Outgoing and gregarious, Karen had the ability to engage perfect strangers in long, personal conversations, and was ever willing to speak her mind in any circumstance. She cherished the friendships she made in both Florida and Georgia. With an enduring affection for standard poodles, she shared her home with them for more than four decades. Her family and friends will remember her for her flair for dressing in bright colors, her love of French antiques, her lifelong appreciation of cocktail hour, and her steadfast devotion to her family.
In lieu of flowers, Karen would have been honored by contributions in her name to Midtown Assistance Center in Atlanta, Georgia, or the National Kidney Foundation.
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