Karen Sue Kramer

Karen Kramer, 73 of Belfair, was surrounded by many family members when she was called to heaven on October 8, 2018. Born on January 3, 1945 in Omaha, NE to Mr. and Mrs. Carl George Zieg and Mary Anna (Richter) Zieg. A graduate of Benson High School in Omaha, Nebraska she attended some college while working various roles and raising her children.

She married Guy Arthur Brigman, Richard Christopher Johnson and Frederick Joseph Kramer.

Mom worked at Western Wisconsin Legal Services, LaCrosse, WI, in 1980’s-1990’s as a Legal Assistant and enjoyed helping community members resolve their legal needs. She assisted people, on her own time, with daily life activities, obtaining housing or serving meals to the homeless. Her experience provided a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a Jesse Jackson delegate in 1988. Karen attended the 1988 Democratic Convention in St. Louis, MO where CNN had broadcast a crowd shot of Jesse Jackson then immediately to her and then Ed Begley, Jr. She was over the moon excited since these were two of her idols. She went to the CNN station to obtain a recording and was severely disappointed to learn they did not record that part of the broadcast.

She moved to Washington State in 1989 and resided in the Tacoma area. Karen worked at Paulson’s Appliance Store and TCI Cable which through many mergers became Comcast. She worked in the cable industry until 2008 when she was involuntary required to claim short-term then long term-disability and resulting in retirement due to her health conditions. She enjoyed working with her colleagues and supporting all customers. Her colleagues often requested her assistance to troubleshoot challenging customer escalations to resolve and she always resolved them with excellent customer satisfaction.

Karen enjoyed spending time with friends and family and was able to live closer to her oldest daughter, after her retirement, and spend a lot of time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was a blessing for her to have her granddaughter (Rachel), and family, relocate from Wisconsin and live with her for the last two years. It allowed her to stay at home, be provided loving care and build a strong relationship with them.

Besides her parents, Karen was preceded in death by her first husband Guy Arthur Brigman and last husband Frederick Joseph Kramer; granddaughter, Hannah Marie Sims and sister, Sally Jean Nelson.

She is survived by us her daughters, Lori Johnson (Ross), Molly Tecca (Wally), Marian Kramer Gilkey Meyer (Vaughn); sons, Douglas Brigman (Dale Watanbe) and Matt Anderson (Karen Fraiser Barthel); grand children, Rachel Carlson (Ian), Justin Johnson (Kalee), Jordan Johnson (Tasha), Marsden (M.C.) Meyer and Penny Meyer (John); great grandchildren, Abagail and Johnathan Carlson, Nathan, Kyla and Kastin Johnson, Hailey and Hannah Johnson, Justin Vieyra, Jeremy, Jeffrey, Travis and Desiree Madrid; great great grandchildren, Justin Jr., Aspen, Auston, Aliya and Peyton Vieyra and Chelsie Nardin and brothers Roger Zieg (Carla) and Bob Zieg (Rhonda).

She participated in groups such as: Dept 56 Village Collection Club, Mad About Rubber Stamps (MARS), Pinnacle group and other crafts and hobby groups. Karen loved to do craft projects with her family and friends, often for gift giving, which included rubber stamping, knitting, paper quilling, cardmaking, needlework, chocolate and mint making and other various craft hobbies over the years.

Karen was passionate about the outdoors and traveling which included many road trips to holiday get togethers (often in terrible winter weather!) and family reunions in the Midwest. One of her most memorable trips was to China in 2002 and she enjoyed sharing her experience of this trip with everyone. She wanted to see the area along the Yangtze River before it flooded by the completion of the hydroelectric gravity dam, Three Gorges Dam. Karen enjoyed watching TV and was passionate about learning new things about cultures, adventures, places to see and things to do. She enjoyed sharing all her knowledge, experiences and travels with those around her whether it was her family, friends or hospital/nursing home personnel. She could strike up a conversation with anyone, have something insightful to share and connect with them on a deep and meaningful level.

Karen loved animals and was blessed to have many over her lifetime including several dogs and a cat in the last 10 years. She loved all creatures, big or small, and welcomed many into her home regardless of the circumstances. Recently, she enjoyed having her granddaughter’s chickens, ducks, geese and peacock. They walked around her property and she loved seeing them and going outside to talk to and feed them.

There will be a Celebration of her life where Family and Friends will gather for a short memorial service and then gather together to share memories on Saturday, November 10 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm at Redeemer Lutheran Church 1001 Princeton St Fircrest, WA 98466.

Memorial Donations can be made to: Mason County Humane Society – 18400 E State Route 3 Allyn, WA 98524; humanesocietyofmasoncounty.com

The family would like to thank all the healthcare professionals at various hospitals in Tacoma, Bremerton and Gig Harbor along with nursing homes over the years (Port Orchard, Bremerton and Gig Harbor) and the Fresenius Kidney Care in Gig Harbor. A big thank you to the medical team that took care of her and took special consideration of her complicated medical conditions to provide her the best care and delay kidney dialysis until absolutely required. She began kidney dialysis in July 2018 and expressed how exhausting it was for her and we are grateful we were able to postpone it for a few years to allow her a better quality of life during that time.