Karen Ilene Shaffner

Karen was born on November 29, 1944, in Minot, North Dakota, and grew up in the countryside attending Bell School until she and her friends joined the city kids at Minot High School. She continued at Minot State Teachers College, earning her degree in Elementary Education and Speech Pathology.

Karen met a young airman, Larry Shaffner, in 1963, at a sock hop at the Big M building in Minot. They married, and after Larry returned from a year in Thailand during Vietnam, they spent time living in New York state and Alaska. They drove back to North Dakota in a VW Bug with their baby girl, Lisa.

Karen was a traveling speech pathologist for the Kenmare school district before starting her career in the classroom. She taught at North Plains Elementary on the Minot Air Force Base and then began teaching 1st grade at McKinley Elementary in Minot where she stayed for 29 years. She cared deeply about early childhood literacy and was an active member in the teacher’s union.

Larry and Karen also added to their family during this time with Michelle arriving in 1975 and Christopher in 1979. They enjoyed summers at Strawberry Lake and taking cross country trips to New York to visit the Shaffner side of the family. Karen enjoyed time in Minot with her mom, sister, and extended Gjerde and Appel family. She also spent many hours cheering her kids on in hockey arenas and band auditoriums and school gymnasiums.

After retirement, she and Larry enjoyed gardening and travelling through the United States. The Minot flood of 2011 closed their chapter in North Dakota and brought them to Cloquet, Minnesota, where they co-hosted the Spafford Park Campground and wintered in Mesa, Arizona.

In 2018, they fully retired to Mesa. Karen spent many hours with friends, decorating for seasonal events, playing in the kitchen band, and hosting campfire sing-alongs. She especially loved her Monday afternoon “Ladies Meetings” and campfire time with Larry, her kids, and grandkids. She was known for chatting with people, not being afraid to say what was on her mind and caring deeply about social justice and women’s rights.

Karen was confirmed and a member at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Minot and later was a long-time member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.

She is currently playing Yahtzee in heaven with her mother, Bertha Tangen; her father, Ingvald Gjerde; her sister, Donna Stevick; and brother-in-law, Vern Stevick. She is held tight in memory and heart by her husband, Larry Shaffner; her daughter Lisa Sohn (Kris); daughter Michelle Shaffner (Stephen Geffre); and son Chris Shaffner (Cindy); grandkids Abagail Geffre (Matt Kelley), Levi (Alex) Shafranski, Cupid Geffre, Fern Shaffner, Thomas Geffre, and Ilene Shaffner. Also, by dear friends in Mesa, Arizona, at Mesa Regal and The Resort.

Immediate family will honor her memory this summer along the shores of Lake Superior. There will be a gathering for family and friends this summer in Minneapolis as well.

Memorials and well wishes can be sent c/o Larry Shaffner to 13640 Harwell Path, Apple Valley, MN, 55417.