Karen Cline Decell

"Karen Cline Decell, 50, died at home on Monday, May 22, 2017, surrounded by her husband, sons and family. Born on May 27, 1966, to Kenneth Ray Cline and Janette Maxwell Cline, Karen grew up near Georgetown, Louisiana, graduating from Georgetown High School in 1984. She attended Louisiana College, graduating early with a Bachelor's degree in Communications Arts in December 1987. After graduating from Louisiana College, Karen worked in customer service and human relations for various companies. At the time of her death, Karen was employed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, most recently as a Senior Compensation Analyst. Karen was a tomboy as a child and loved competing in anything, including athletics, board games and card games. She was successful in all of them. But mostly she excelled in making friends and tending those friendships over distances and for many years. Karen always gave time to relationships and planned for family, friends, work colleagues and others to get together for a meal, a weekend retreat, a Chick Clique gathering or a Maxwell Women Mexico shopping weekend. Karen's was a life of humor. She loved to laugh, whether at herself or some funny thing that someone said or she saw. Karen almost always followed that up with a call or a text to any number of friends to share that funny thing with them. She read voraciously, and often clipped a funny newspaper headline or underlined a funny phrase in a book and texted a photo to a sibling or friend. Family was very important to Karen, and her view was the more, the merrier. Karen was key to planning family events and reunions, and was always in the middle of every family function. The extended Maxwell and Cline families were important to her, and her lifetime of engagement with family reflected that. Her annual planning and execution of the Mexico Mamas shopping trip filled many notebooks with priceless memories. Perhaps her most cherished extended family relationships were as an aunt, and each nephew or niece felt a special connection with Karen "“ she was a very cool aunt. But Karen's most cherished relationships were as a wife and mother. As full of life as Karen's was into her early 30's, she blossomed even more when she met Louis. Only God could guide two people so perfectly matched together "“ Karen's family still can't believe she met someone who talked as much as Karen did. And with Louis, Karen was welcomed into the Decell family, where she was blessed with a second set of parents along with 8 more siblings and multiple sisters and brothers-in-law. Family gatherings just multiplied for Karen and Louis, and Karen became the little sister to a much larger group of siblings. She and Louis together became that special and beloved aunt and uncle to many more nieces and nephews. Karen and Louis' prayers were answered when Max was adopted in 2004. Karen's tomboy background came in handy with Max, and her life quickly adjusted to his love of everything "outdoors", including various hunting seasons. Karen also loved that Max shared her love of reading. Mickey followed 3 years later and came with Karen's red hair, intellectual curiosity and witty sense of humor. Karen's life was filled with Louis and the boys, and she was never happier. In 1999, prior to their 2000 marriage, Karen and Louis became active members at Broadmoor United Methodist Church. They became involved in many areas of service there, but they especially cherished their time working with the confirmation classes for a number of years. BUMC became the family of God for them here in Baton Rouge, and friendships were made and forged there that remain strong to this day. In these last 15 months following a cancer diagnosis in February 2016, it was these friendships, along with family, co-workers and other friends, who sustained Karen, Louis and the boys with constant prayers, and words and deeds of love and encouragement. The disease that caused Karen's premature death opened the floodgate of blessings from heaven as Karen, Louis and the boys were uplifted in constant prayer and surrounded by love and support from both expected and unexpected sources. These blessings allowed Karen and Louis to live the past 15 months with a true sense of peace and gratitude beyond understanding. Karen was preceded in death by her father, Kenneth Ray Cline. She is survived by her husband of 17 years, Louis Decell; her children, Maxwell "Max" Decell and Michael "Mickey" Decell; her mother, Janette Maxwell Cline of Baker; her sister, Belinda Cline Graff and husband Wayne, of Carencro; her brother, Wade Cline and wife Lainie, of Houston, Texas; her mother-in-law, Pat Decell Irwin of Baton Rouge, sisters-in-law Anne Decell of St. Louis, Missouri, Kay Decell Foreman and husband, David of Baton Rouge, Mary Decell Joseph and husband, Richard of Flower Mound, Texas, and Kay Roach Decell of Houston, Texas; brothers-in-law Ralph Decell and wife, Sherry; Don Decell and wife, Kay; Steve Decell and wife, Becky; and Keith Decell and wife, Lauri; all of Baton Rouge; and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. A celebration of Karen's life will be held on Saturday, June 3, 2017, at 12:00 noon at Broadmoor United Methodist Church, 10230 Mollylea Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70815. Visitation with the family will be at the church starting at 9:00 a.m., followed by the memorial service at noon. Louis and Karen's families wish to thank her incredible nurses (her mother Janette and her aunt Maybeth Maxwell), Dr. Gerald Miletello and his staff at Hematology/Oncology Clinic, Dr. Greg Fautheree and his staff at the Neuromedical Center, Dr. Taylor Theunissen and his staff, and Clarity Hospice of Baton Rouge. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, TN 38148-0142 or to a charity of the donor's choice.