Karen L. Schwencke DeJong

DeJong, Karen L. ( nee Schwencke ) passed away July 27, 2010 at the age of 57 after a courageous 6 year battle with cancer. Karen was born in West Palm Beach at Good Samaritan on June 7, 1953 to Jack and Enid Schwencke, the youngest of 4 children. She is survived by her husband and best friend, Ekkie and her two loving children Melissa and Patric. She is also survived by her father, Jack Schwencke of North Palm Beach, brother Kim Schwencke, and wife Paula of Tampa, FL, sister Christine Sams, and husband Bob of Asheville, NC and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her mother Enid and brother Kerry Schwencke.

Karen grew up in North Palm Beach attending high school at Palm Beach Gardens. She got her degree from USF in business. In her teens she was an accomplished equestrian (hunter jumper) with the highest accolade being an appearance at Madison Square Garden. Later in life, she was a teaching tennis professional at PGA National where she made many avid tennis players and lifelong friends. She loved playing tennis & soccer, riding horses, weekend bike rides with her husband Ekkie (especially on the bike trails in Inverness Florida), country music concerts (her favorite singer was Keith Urban for whom she saw perform 7 times), and trips to Holland. She was a wonderful, loving generous person living life to its fullest always surrounded her family, friends and cherished pets….of which there are too many to mention. She will be greatly missed by all and in the end showed us how to live our life with grace and dignity. We will forever love and miss her very much.

“You’re always in my heart, you’re always on my mind and when it all becomes too much you’re never far behind. And there’s no one that comes close to you could ever take your place.” ~ Keith Urban, Only You Can Love Me This Way