Karen Riel

Karen was born on January 28, 1939, in Everett, Washington, to George and Gladys Bachelder. She graduated from Everett High School, Class of 1957, and earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Education from Seattle University in 1961. Before starting her family, she taught English, sharing her lifelong love of language and literature and encouraging students to find their voices on the page.

In 1962, Karen married Richard Charles Riel, and together they raised four children in Kent, Washington.

A lifelong learner and advocate for compassion, Karen earned a Master of Arts in Values from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1987. She devoted 22 years to Catholic Community Services, directing programs that served the homeless and families in need throughout King County. After retiring, she dedicated two decades to the Community Outreach Association Shelter Team (COAST) in Jefferson County. As a founding member and former chairwoman, she helped grow COAST from a small winter shelter into a vital community lifeline, offering warmth, dignity, and hope to countless individuals experiencing homelessness.

In 1995, Dick and Karen built their dream home in Brinnon on the shores of Hood Canal, where they spent countless hours crabbing and shrimping in their boat, Nancy Marie, and enjoyed their community through 4th of July celebrations, potlucks, and gatherings with friends.

Karen was an accomplished gardener, blessed with a green thumb and a deep knowledge of plants and flowers. She delighted in nurturing her own garden, growing fruit, vegetables, trees and flowers that bloomed under her care. She never passed a garden without pausing to admire its secrets, finding joy in every branch, petal, leaf, and bloom.

Karen was equally at home on a campsite or exploring a European city. She and her husband cherished their trip to Kauai, hiking and marveling at the island's lush flora. Her first journey to Rome in 1979 inspired a lifelong goal to return—a dream she fulfilled in 2024. She visited her family's ancestral homeland of Norway with her cousins and cherished reunions in Spain with Luis Muñoz de Dios, the exchange student who became family in the 1980s. In her final three years, Karen traveled to six countries, with the pinnacle being Monet's House and Gardens in Giverny, France, where she reveled in the beauty that had long inspired her love of flowers.

She is survived by her children, Elizabeth (David) Corlett, Molly (Kevin) McCarthy, Mark Riel, and Eric (Linda) Riel; her three beloved grandchildren, Brittney (Corlett) Moore, Collin McCarthy, and Delaney McCarthy; three great-grandchildren, whom she was thrilled to meet in this lifetime; and dozens of nieces and nephews. Karen is predeceased by her parents; her brother, Michael Bachelder along with his wife Sharyl (Chandler) Bachelder and her nephew Brian Bachelder.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP.org) in support of their ongoing efforts to house the homeless in Jefferson County, or to World Central Kitchen, helping feed those in need around the world.

“Well done, good and faithful servant.” — Matthew 25:23