Karen was born in San Jose, California, on January 25, 1964, the youngest of three children of Lee and Judy Harris. Mom says she was a very easy, happy baby and child, eager to please and easy to get along with.We’d like to share some memories of Karen with the hopes all can get a feel for the wonderful person she was.
As a toddler, she had this pale yellow blanket that she carried with her constantly. I’m not sure how it was named, but she called it her “sushi.” Mom says she was so attached to it that if she washed it while she was at preschool, she would immediately sit in front of the dryer, impatiently waiting for it when she returned home. That sushi held its own, ending up sort of a gray little square of material that was not going to be relinquished by its owner. She also carried around a stuffed skunk named Stinky. My son received a little white bear when he was born, and we named him Stinky too!
Karen had a bit of a lisp as a youngster. I recall dad sitting her down having her clench her teeth and saying, “shiny shoes.” She ultimately outgrew it, but hearing “shiny shoes” to this day brings back those memories. She was such a cute kid and that lisp added to it.
Being the youngest, she was, of course, at the mercy of her older brother and sister (actually, probably more her sister because I was kind of a stinker). I had a brilliant idea that it would be a lot of fun to put ourselves down the laundry shute. Of course, I volunteered her to go first and had her by the hands as the rest of her dangled in the shute (she must have been 4 years old. I was probably 7). When it became quickly apparent that this wasn’t such a hot idea, I screamed for our big brother Lance, who thankfully was able to pull her back up from the laundry shute safely. I’m pretty sure I got in trouble for that. There was another incident where I wanted her to ride on the back of my stingray. Yet blessed with another great idea, I decided to jump the curb across the street from our home. Karen ended up on the sidewalk with a goose egg over one of her eyes; again, more trouble for me. Thankfully she wasn’t severely injured. Don’t get me wrong, folks; I really loved my little sister, but she was my sidekick when we were youngsters and so easy to volunteer for my little schemes. Thank God, Lance was always nearby to come to the rescue. She also, however, came up with a dilly of her own when one day she climbed in my dad’s brown Hillman, decided to take off the emergency brake, and rolled down the driveway backwards into the cul-de-sac. It was either my dad or our neighbor who witnessed the slow runaway vehicle and was able to run to the car, get inside and put on the brake. She wasn’t more than 4 or 5 years old and so short she wasn’t seen behind the wheel. We all laugh at that now, but it scared the bejeebers out of my parents at the time.
Karen was very easy going as a youngster as well as a teen and adult. She was, however, very serious when it came to her studies. She was an excellent student (an honor student) and was loved by all her teachers from preschool through high school. She loved school and outshined her older sis and brother who were more into social concerns. She had a quiet demeanor about her but was loving, thoughtful, and intensely loyal to those around her. She loved team sports and loved being a member of the Hurricanes, a soccer team coached by Lance and two of his close buddies. I know she loved being one of the coach’s sister. She played basketball and volleyball as well. She also was a Blue Bird (the precursor to Camp Fire Girls).
Being three years ahead of her in school, we were only on the same campus when at Three Points Elementary, but as we grew older and went through junior high and high school, she would come to me for advice on boys, friends, or some problem. She once told me she wanted to be just like me. I was the loud, boisterous type (guess I still am) and found this so ironic because I wanted to be like her, smart and focused (and tall!). This young lady knew what she wanted and how to apply herself. She not only aimed to please her parents and her instructors, she thrived on the satisfaction of a job well done and loved the challenge. She was beautiful. She was a model for a time, drop-dead gorgeous, tall with beautiful blonde hair and hazel eyes just like our dad. She very much resembled the Harris side of the family, namely our Swedish great-grandmother Mattie Holmberg Nelson (our dad’s maternal grandma and the namesake of our niece, Lance’s youngest daughter).
Karen was a go-getter. She followed our dad’s footsteps and pursued his love of flying, which I know made him so very proud of her. She worked in the pharmacy at Overlake Hospital for a time while a student and took her flying lessons then, as well. She was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority at the University of Washington, focusing on a degree in International Business. She and I lived together for a couple years while she was at UW and I was at Seattle University. We studied together and laughed a lot. I was an English major. I’d have her proofread my papers and she always gave me the dickens about run-on sentences, telling me, “You have to breathe in there somewhere!”
My sis-in-law, Julie, shares, “I remember watching Karen fly into the house on Yarrow Point, those long legs (that went from here to there and back again), blonde hair billowing behind her. Then she would stop, look Lance in the eye and say "What's going on, Goob?" That's how I envision her. Sometimes she would stop by Bravo after her Sunday night shift at the Fog Horn (the owners of the FH loved her as well as the customers).
My mother called her ‘A pistol, an unstoppable young woman.’ She thought the world of Karen and said ‘That girl is going somewhere.’ I think she would have been happy that Henry and Karen were together. I know Karen loved both of your grandmothers, very much, and respected them.”
Grandma Smith lived on the East Coast so we didn’t get to see her very much. Grandma eventually relocated to England where she lived for the remainder of her life. On Karen’s backpacking adventure, she did make a point of going to York to spend time with her. On one of her visits to the States, I recall Grandma commenting how courageous it was for a young girl to embark on such an excursion.
Grandma Daisy held a very special place in Karen’s heart. All us kids loved to go to her house in San Jose to spend the night, play games, and enjoy Grandma’s homemade milkshakes. Karen particularly loved what we called “the guessing game.” It was another name for the “I Spy” game. I recall the three of us sitting on Grandma’s mohair davenport. It was Karen’s turn and she says, “I’m thinking of two little white things.” She’d whispered the answer to me, so we had a great time giggling when Grandma was exhaustively looking around the room trying to find these two little white things. Upon giving up, Karen gleefully says, “Your earrings!” Karen and Grandma Daisy were very close until grandma’s passing in 1993.
Our family had numerous furry friends over the years. Karen loved animals, particularly cats. There was never a time we didn’t have dogs or cats while growing up. Karen had a couple of gerbils who were a little testy. I remember my best friend Amy picking up one of them, and the little rodents bit her between the thumb and index finger and wouldn’t let go. Karen had a Habitrail setup in her room, the “barnyard” my mom called it when it needed changing. I can still hear Karen yelling at them to shut up in the middle of the night while she was trying to sleep. In later years, I had a black cat named Artemis who Karen loved. I eventually gave her this kitty because she loved her so much. She had her for years thereafter.
As mentioned earlier, Karen and a close friend from high school backpacked throughout Europe for a few months and on her return to the States, she relocated herself to the East Coast. She drove by herself with a little U-Haul attached to her Mitsubishi. Our family admired her courage to do this all by herself. She lived in Alexandria, VA, and worked for a company in DC, dealing in international currency exchange. She spent a few years there but eventually moved back to the Pacific Northwest about the time Lance and I started having our kids in the early 90s. She used to call me from DC, complaining about the humidity and what it did to her hair, as well as the detriment of trying to wear pantyhose in that environment. We always had a good laugh at that.
Once returning to the Seattle area, she landed a job at Seafirst where she met her longtime friend, Susan Gessner, who we are thrilled is able to be with us to celebrate Karen’s life. Those two remained friends even after Susan and her family relocated to Texas. Susan has been a steadfast friend to Karen and our family loves her for it. Karen eventually left Seafirst and went to work for an import/export company in Seattle, a job she enjoyed.
Our beloved uncle Warren (mom’s big brother) lives back East. He has visited us annually for years. He and Karen had a special relationship and kept in touch by phone over the years.
Karen became ill in her late 20s, early 30s. She battled a tough disease for the rest of her life. She had sporadic remission and throughout drew strength from her love of family, close friends, her love of reading novels of the spy/international intrigue genre, and watching her nephew and three nieces grow up. She was also an avid runner. For the last seven years, she had a wonderful life partner, Henry Yanda. They stood by each other through tough times and shared wonderfully happy times. I know he brought a lot of joy to her and she to him. When in the hospital shortly before her passing, she told me how much she felt he was a Godsend to her. I’m grateful she had him in her life. He was a source of strength for her and was steadfastly at her bedside every minute possible until she passed.
On behalf of my mom, dad who’s watching from above, Henry, Lance and Julie, Ryan and Laura, AJ and Matt, and Warren, we appreciate all who have come to celebrate the life of our beloved sister, daughter, life partner, niece and auntie who was taken mercifully but way too soon.
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