Karen Kam Tau Stockton

Karen Kam Tau Kau Stockton, born December 12, 1947, daughter of Helen and Henry Kau, in Honolulu, HI, died peacefully at home in Honolulu, HI, October 12, 2024. She was diagnosed several years ago with multiple system atrophy, a rare illness without known cause and no cure, but continued to live life, one day at a time, the best she could. She grew up in Kuliouou, Aina Haina, and Hawaii Kai, attending Star of the Sea, Punahou, and the University of Hawaii, where she received a BA in Russian and Masters degree in Library Science. She married Alan Stockton on January 9, 1971. She worked as a children's librarian in several schools: Kahuku, Radford HS, Hanahauoli, Manoa Elementary, and Sacred Hearts Academy, from which she retired in 2006.

Karen had many hobbies. Her dad taught her to play the ukulele. Her older sister, Kathy, gave her piano lessons. She took up the violin and played with the first Honolulu Youth Symphony and was selected to play a solo with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. She later took up slack-key guitar. Throughout her life she played chamber music and piano duets with Kathy and younger sister, Kerrianne, Alan, and friends, and joined ukulele groups whenever she could. Her mom taught her to sew and she made clothes for Alan and herself and fabricated gifts for others, including masks when COVID appeared. She loved to travel and accompanied her astronomer husband on international sabbaticals to Vancouver, Edinburgh, Durham (England), Canberra, and Las Serena, Chile where they lived for a year and she was able to improve her Spanish speaking skills. She loved taking advantage of the Spanish classes at the UH Nā Kūpuna Program because they were free and she loved to learn! Not surprisingly, she was an avid reader and ran a monthly book club for several years and loved sharing her favorite books with her many friends. The stay in Canberra, with Australia’s many colorful birds, inspired a life-long interest in birds everywhere.

While her illness presented her with many challenges, until just over a week before she died, she and Alan would walk the loop trail at Magic Island almost every day, taking a wheelchair along in case she got tired. They would usually stop at a favorite bench to watch turtles pop up to breathe.

Karen’s quiet and unassuming demeanor masked a keen curiosity and interest in other people. A standing joke in the family was that, if she found herself in a lengthy line at the supermarket, by the time she got to the cashier she would often know the innermost details of the life of the person behind her. Once, in a casual conversation with another patron at a Thai restaurant, she found out about the possibility of being a docent at the recently established Manoa Heritage Center, became one, and that ended up being an important part of her life until she was no longer able to do it.

Karen is survived by her husband Alan, her daughter Hilary and son Jeffrey, her grandchildren Julian Stockton and Jizelle Stockton, and her sisters Kathy Conahan and Kerrianne McMurdo.

Karen’s Celebration of Life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, Ko`olau Campus, 45-550 Kionaole Road, Kaneohe, at 3:00 PM on November 17.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to MissionMSA (missionmsa.org), the River of Life Mission (riveroflifemission.org), or the Manoa Heritage Center (manoaheritagecenter.org).