Karen Leslie Oakes

Karen was born on December 8, 1984 in Houston, Texas to Jack and Donna Oakes. Her father worked for Mobil Oil Corporation (now ExxonMobil Corporation), and in his early career that meant plenty of relocations. The family moved to Slidell, Louisiana in 1987 when Karen was three years old. The young girl especially enjoyed going to local Mardi Gras parades as well as riding big wheels in the driveway with her sister, Kristy. As a lot of people in Louisiana do, the girls enjoyed fishing. Their version was noodling for tadpoles in the drainage ditch in front of the house. The gulf coast beaches also beckoned and the family spent many lazy weekend afternoons on the beach and in the water.

The family relocated to Bakersfield, California in 1991. During these formative years, Karen developed many interests. Along with her sister, she loved gymnastics and they developed advanced skills to compete in tournaments held all over southern California. Both girls were proud of the many trophies they collected from these tournaments. During this time, Karen’s friendships blossomed as well as her interests in skateboarding. Karen was an athletic young lady who participated in intermural track and field, as well as volleyball. As on the gulf coast, the California beaches also drew Kristy and Karen. She was growing into the quintessential California girl – slender with long blonde hair. Besides the beaches, the sisters loved going to the Los Angeles theme parks, Disneyland, and especially Magic Mountain where they have the really big rollercoasters.

In 1997, Jack was asked to relocate again, this time back to Houston. Moving the teenagers while in high school created many challenges for both Karen and her sister. Karen used her social skills and outgoing personality to make many new friends in Houston. In fact, the close friends she established in high school have remained close to Karen’s entire family to this day. Karen graduated from The Woodlands High School in 2003. During high school, Karen’s interest in skateboarding grew. She took a part time job working in retail outlets that specialize in sports apparel, shoes, snowboarding and skateboarding equipment.

Following high school graduation, Karen moved to Austin to attend Austin Community College (ACC) while she sought to figure out what direction to take her life. She wanted to work while in college to help share the financial aspects of higher education. She quickly found a job in retail, again with skateboarding and snowboarding retailers. Her magnetic personality made sales easy for her and she spent hours with others who shared her interests in skateboarding to develop the depth of knowledge needed to understand that community’s interests and desires. Her employers realized she had a talent for retail merchandising in addition to sales, so she progressed to assistant management positions quickly.

While at ACC, Karen decided on her long term educational goal. She transferred to Texas State University in San Marcos in 2005 to major in criminal justice. Her goal was to become a juvenile justice counselor. She had the ability to communicate and empathize with young people who got themselves into legal trouble. One of her proudest moments was graduating from Texas State in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. However, her career goal of juvenile justice counseling was not yet in reach. She needed experience or a master’s degree. She chose to work at the boys and girls club of Austin. She enjoyed the work tremendously, but the hours were long and pay was low. Ultimately, she gave up her goal and returned to fashion merchandising. In 2012, she was hired by her good friend Jeff Hammett to market Volcom ladies apparel. Volcom’s market is exactly the people Karen related to the best, young people interested in surfing and skateboarding. Once again, that magnetic personality of Karen’s served her well as she built relationships with both retail buyers and the people who bought Volcom products. She loved her work, Volcom, and the entire Hammett family. She had found her calling.

In late 2012, a routine dental checkup determined the need for a root canal on a lower molar. The procedure damaged the nerve in the lower jaw, causing tremendous pain from that point forward. Pain management treatment provided limited relief. God chose to take her into his care on November 17, when she passed peacefully in her sleep.

Karen was preceded in death by her grandparents, Robert Keim, Lois Keim, Norma Oakes, and Edward Oakes, and her aunt, Arlene Del Toro. She is survived by her mother, Donna Oakes, her father John (Jack) Oakes, her sister Kristy Morrissey, her brother-in-law Brad Morrissey; her uncles Allan Keim and his wife, Lori Keim, Steve Keim and his wife Debbie Keim; her cousins Ryan Keim, Emalee Keim, Robbie Keim, Allan Keim, Jr. and his daughter Allyson Keim, Michelle and her husband Paul Cocklin, their children Timothy, Elizabeth, Mary, and Abigail Cocklin, Mark Keim, David Keim and his wife, Kayte, and their son Grayson; her nephews Dylan and Evan Morrissey; and her niece, Camryn Morrissey.

A celebration of Karen’s life was held in Austin on November 30. Over 120 friends and family attended the truly remarkable event. A second celebration of her life will be held December 7 in The Woodlands at the Forest Park Funeral Home. A reception will follow at the Hyatt Place, The Woodlands.

In memory of Karen, her friends have requested donations to enable the construction and maintenance of three memorial benches bearing a commemorative plaque with her name on it. Two of them will be placed in Austin, in two public skate parks where Karen enjoyed spending time with her friends and members of the skateboarding community. The third will be placed in a public skate park in Houston. Details can be found at http://gofundme.com/i86qfw . The family is establishing a donation mechanism to help fund research into more effective procedures to mitigate debilitating nerve damage.