Karen W. Lyon

JANUARY 10, 1931 ~ DECEMBER 5. 2019

Carmel

Karen Williams Lyon died on December fifth, two thousand nineteen, peacefully in her Carmel home of many years. She was preceded by the untimely death of her daughter, Jessica Bryant Malikowski, just months earlier. She is survived by her two siblings, Christopher Williams, and Lacy Williams Buck, both of Carmel, her granddaughter, Erin Malikowski, and son-in-law Ken Malikowski. Karen is also survived by many nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, all from the Carmel area. Karen had many dear lifelong friends and many new friends who are now all feeling a great lessening in their own lives.

Karen sought a full and independent life, choosing her own pathway always. After completing high school, at CHS, she enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse to pursue her joy of the theater. She graduated with honors and went off to try out a life on Broadway. After a short interval, she came to shun the New York world of the theater for its commercialism. But the love of the stage was still with her and she became a lifelong performer for many small repertory companies and playhouses.

As a young woman, Karen was so involved with her lead role in the Daphne du Maurier’s classic play, ‘Trilby’, she gave her first car that name as tribute to the character and to romance. Trilby was always parked, day and night, under the pines on Monte Verde Street, just outside the Golden Bough Playhouse.

It was on-stage that Karen met Jessica’s farther, Edward Bryant, also an actor, and began a life of travel and the theater, which was to become the backbone of her spirit. That life took her to North Africa and the far reaches of the Black Sea shores and beyond. Between trips abroad she spent idyllic summers on the Maine coast at the island house designed and built by her grandfather, Jesse Lynch Williams, himself a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. During these years Karen met her second husband, Ben Lyon, an accomplished photographer, and the principal photographer for the Monterey Herald for many years.

Karen was a lover of her beautiful hometown. She, with her dear friend of thirty years, Margarite, and her beloved dog, Casey, would take long daily walks on Carmel Beach, be it in the pounding rain and smashing sea, or the delicate morning sunlight, they would walk the beach’s length and breath.

Karen was not only a thespian but a lover of the visual and written arts as well. She worked with her farther, Henry Meade Williams, at his two bookstores in Carmel, plus the amazing Thunderbird. She was also involved with the Carmel Art Association for many years.

Obviously, she was a voracious reader. Karen could lead you on an intriguing adventure in any topic, and you would learn something new every time. She was a joy to know and to spend a few delightful hours with.

We will all miss her greatly.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Carmel Mission Basilica on Friday, January 3 at 10:00 am followed by burial at San Carlos Cemetery. Memorial contributions are suggested to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN, 38105 or the SPCA for Monterey County, PO Box 3058, Monterey, CA, 93942. Please visit www.thepaulmortuary.com to sign Karen’s guest book and leave messages for her family.