Karen Ann Kieckhefer Sprenger

of September 30, 2012. She was the beloved wife of 57 years to Gerald “Jerry”

E. Sprenger, and the devoted mother of Susan (Lanier) Randall, Lori Sprenger,

Sherri Ingram, and Traci (Tom) Van Dorselaer. She was preceded in death by

her parents Frances and Henry Kieckhefer, her daughter Sherri, and her

grandson Kerry Ingram. Karen was born on March 1, 1938 in Milwaukee,

Wisconsin where she lived until she met the love of her life and soulmate, Jerry,

of whom she was often heard saying that she “wouldn’t trade for the best coon

dog in the county!” They were wed on December 10, 1955. Together they

celebrated the birth of four daughters while living in several different states,

before eventually settling in Dothan Alabama. In addition to nurturing her family,

she also worked in the healthcare industry specializing in infection control, which

led to her founding and managing the first AIDS community advocacy group in

the Wiregrass area. In her leisure time, she immensely enjoyed reading, art,

singing, was a self taught pianist, decorator, and florist. However, in spite of all of

this creativity, the art of sewing eluded her as she often stated “sewing gives me

hives!” Upon retirement, she and Jerry moved to their “Golden Pond” cottage on

Lake Eufaula where they were active members of the 1st Presbyterian Church of

Fort Gaines, Georgia. They recently moved to a retirement community in

Birmingham, Alabama. Her memory and spirit will be kept alive in the hearts of

her husband, daughters, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. We

will miss the example of her great strength, strong faith, her lively sense of

humor, and her warm words of encouragement. She was always cheering us on

to be the very best that we could be.

Family will receive visitors at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 4 at The Oaks On

Parkwood (2651 Laurel Oaks Drive, Bessemer) and will proceed to the

internment service at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo at 2:45 p.m.