Karen Elizabeth Menze

It is with incredible sadness that we share the unexpected passing of our beloved sister, aunt, great aunt, and friend, Karen E. Menze, on January 23, 2025, at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, NJ. She was 64 years young.

Born in Englewood, NJ on October 22, 1960, to August J. Menze and Beverly G. Menze, she was the youngest of three children. Karen was raised in Emerson, NJ, attended Emerson public schools, and subsequently graduated from Emerson High School in 1979. Growing up, Karen and her family spent their summers at a camp in Bear Mountain, NY where her love for family, friends, animals and the great outdoors became some of the strongest fibers of her being. After her high school graduation, she moved to Boston, MA to immerse herself in her love of art.

Karen’s studies brought her through intensive programming in fine arts and liberal arts at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA as well as Boston State College from 1979-1981. From there she traveled to Nova Scotia’s College of Art and Design concentrating on painting, printmaking and 2-D design until 1983. Finally, Karen graduated from Massachusetts College of Art with her Bachelor of Fine Arts and a major in painting in 1984.

In Boston, while creating art for private and public exhibition, and waitressing to pay the bills, Karen worked diligently to secure her name in the local art scene. Due to her hard work, determination and infectious personality, Karen’s career took off, allowing her to offer expertise in the creation of murals, backdrops, logo design, illustration, prop design, and most notably scenic painting and set design. She found her way to the art theatre at Harvard University, where she was able to freelance for a bit until a Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin film rolled into town needing scenic artists. This began her 35-year career in scenic art. Her love for scenic design and the people she worked with brought her onto television and movie sets beginning with “Mermaids” in 1989 and ending with “Law and Order, Criminal Intent” and the “Late Show with David Letterman” in 2015. In between those years, some films/series that she worked on included “The Good Son”, “The Next Karate Kid”, “Blown Away”, “Good Will Hunting”, “Amistad”, “The Crucible”, “In Dreams”, “The Storm of the Century”, “State and Main”, “Spider Man”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”, “Still Alice”, and “The Education of Max Bickford”, to name a few. Karen was an extremely talented fine artist and scenic artist, and she was a proud and respected member of I.A.T.S.E. 829, and I.A.T.S.E. 92 Local 921, the Waltham Mill Artist Association, the Fort Point Artists Community, as well as a founding member of the Brickbottom Artist Association in Somerville, MA.

Karen was lucky enough to travel in between jobs and she even became an accredited yoga instructor having trained at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, MA. In 1993 she and her partner were able to take a year to travel the world. At the end of that year, she applied for and accepted a residency on the main island of Hawaii where she was able to paint and teach yoga for 6 months. She was able to travel extensively over these years which brought her great joy.

In 2000 Karen moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, where she lived for a few years, then eventually she bought a home in Ridgewood, Queens, where she had time and space to work on her house, play with her dogs and enjoy the city.

Karen was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2015 while she was living in NY and wrapping up her career. As years passed and Karen’s body wasn’t what it once was, or what she wanted it to be, she found ways to stay positive. In 2018 she moved to Northampton, MA to surround herself with a fun, energetic, art community and together with her dog Lottie, they enjoyed their surroundings there. A few years later in 2021 when she needed more assistance with daily life, Karen moved into the Actors Fund Home. She met wonderful people that became her friends in addition to a great number of caregivers that were willing to support her desire to remain independent for as long as her body would allow. This was Karen’s final resting place.

It is important to note that although Karen was incredibly proud of her life’s accomplishments and her many talents (and there were many), she was even more delighted by the people she surrounded herself with, and her family. Karen was an authentic human who lived for life and love. She was gentle and kind, and she always wanted to know what you were up to. She loved her dogs, she loved to travel, she loved to create, she loved to cook and eat delicious foods, she loved music and theater and movies; she loved to play, she loved impromptu dance parties, she loved a good joke, she loved to swim, she loved to experience and learn, she loved to be outside, she loved a hot bath, she loved to write letters and cards, and she loved to teach. But, most of all, she really loved her people.

There was no one quite like Karen. Karen was love. She is missed beyond measure.

Karen is survived by her sister, brother and his wife, Linda Menze, Gary Menze and Susan Menze. A nephew and three nieces Jason Edney, Erin Pasay (Edney), Katarina Menze, and Karoline Menze, as well as Erin’s husband and their three children, Justin, Burke, Blake and Emerson Pasay. She is predeceased by both of her parents.

There will be a private Celebration of Life for Karen this July in Bear Mountain, NY, where she treasured her time.