Karen Kay Dyer

Karen Kay Dyer, 83, of Naples, Florida passed away on July 7, 2022. Karen was born on May 25, 1939 in Hampton, Iowa. After graduating from Dumont High School in 1956, she went to work at Dyer Pontiac in Hampton, Iowa where she met and married the love of her life, Donald Dyer. Being an only child, she always wished for a large family of her own. Her dreams came true as the mother of four, and was the mom everyone wished for.

The family moved to Naples, Florida in 1974 where Karen continued to focus on raising her children by volunteering at their schools, attending extra-curricular activities and supporting them in every way. She also loved playing bridge, tennis and racquetball, boating with family each Sunday and the company of great friends. Her friendships meant so much, with several spanning multiple decades. Beyond this, she also became a vital part of the family business, as office administrator at Rod and Rudder Boat Sales. Once her children were grown, she continued to find fulfillment working in the physicians’ and home health care offices at Moorings Park Retirement Community for more than 20 years. Above all, Karen loved her family and friends; each of them would describe her as one of the most caring, kind and thoughtful people they knew.

Karen was preceded in death by her parents, William and Wanda Hawe, her beloved husband of 62 years, Donald Dyer and daughter-in-law Lori Dyer.

She is survived by her four children, Clark Dyer of Naples, Florida, Kori Freeman (David) of Tampa, Florida, Kelly Knapke of Naples, Florida and Kristin Jarabek (Chris) of West Des Moines, Iowa, ten grandchildren, Alison Freeman, Nicole Pridgeon (Ben), Jarrod Freeman, Chelsea Dyer, Zoe, Adrienne and Tate Knapke, Juliette, Dyer and Fabian Jarabek.

A visitation will take place on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 from 5-7 p.m. at Hodges Funeral Home at Naples Memorial Gardens (525 111th Ave. N., Naples, FL 34108), with a Funeral Mass on Thursday, July 14, 2022 at 10 a.m. at St. William Catholic Church (601 Seagate Dr., Naples, FL 34108).

Our Mom will live on in the hearts and memories of each of us. We find comfort in knowing that our loving parents are now together forever.

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Eulogy:

Clark, Kori, Kelly and Kristin put their thoughts on paper about things they thought were important about our mom and grandma. We realize that days, weeks and months from now, many, many more thoughts will come, so consider this “just a start.”

One thing we will miss the most about our mom is the loving way she always greeted us at the door and walked us to our cars when we left. She stood in the driveway waving until we were out of sight, and asked for a call or text to let her know we got home safely. We know she’s safely home with Dad today.

Mom grew up in the tiny town of Aredale, Iowa, population of 225, total. She was happiest when she had company. Maybe this stemmed from her being an only child. She loved sleepovers at her grandmother’s house with two of her cousins. Mom didn’t like birds, and especially chickens. Unfortunately, as a child in Iowa, she encountered many of them. Her friends and cousins loved to tease her and chase her around with the chickens on their farm. She graduated from high school and started her first job at 17. At that time, most girls lived at home until they were married. She later moved to Hampton into her own little apartment, showing her independence and initiative. It was there, at Dyer Pontiac, that she met Dad and fell in love with the boss’s son.

Our parents were always dedicated to, and enjoyed, their work….even spending more than 20 years in the “retirement jobs.” The loved the sense of purpose and all the friends they made along the way. Over time Mom and Dad developed a system for sharing the household duties: Dad liked grocery shopping and grilling and mom was in charge of the sides and cleaning up afterward. Dad took care of the cars, mom paid all the bills and made sure the house was in perfect order.

Our parents’ home was the family gathering place. Mom loved having us come over….no invitation required, no advance notice. Just drop by, whenever you have a minute. Come for the whole week if you can! The minute we walked through the door, the TV was turned off and her complete attention was focused on all of us. There were always lively discussions about everything from what was going on in our lives to sports and current events. She took pride in keeping a spotless house with everything in its place. You can imagine that having four kids, and later, 10 grandkids, maintaining that level of tidiness might have been a little challenging.

Mom and Dad lived in their Naples home for 48 years; updating and remodeling it over time. She loved decorating for the holidays and the change of seasons. Even though the seasons were a little hard to differentiate in Florida, she had a new wreath, new plants and flowers on her doorstep and more recently, a bowl of seasonal candy on the coffee table. Her pantry was always fully stocked with snacks and the freezer full of ice cream. “Who wants a cone?”

Mom was very organized. It wasn’t only the orderliness of the house, but her systems for absolutely everything: keeping lists, paying bills, filing papers, doing laundry, even keeping her calendar so carefully that she never missed an appointment, event or sending a birthday or anniversary card to everyone. She was also the master of thank you notes. She never missed the opportunity to let people know she was thankful, whether it was for a visit, an extravagant gift or something simple, useful or practical. Every one of those cards and notes were beautifully written in her perfect penmanship.

While we were growing up Mom was the encourager; she set high expectations but allowed us to become our own people. She volunteered in the schools, always the homeroom mother and even hosted Kristin’s entire first grade class for a pool party at the house. Mom never missed ballgames, dance recitals, concerts or any of our activities.

Growing up, dinner was on the table promptly at 5:30. This was family time. Everyone had their assigned seat and there was no shortage of conversation and family banter. Mom wasn’t passionate about cooking, but she did enjoy preparing the family favorites: chili, goulash, stuffed green peppers and beefburgers. She sometimes got creative with the sides like buttered and toasted hamburger buns topped with Salad Supreme or fruit and marshmallow salad. As the grandkids came along, she loved surprising them with her cherry chocolate cake, and more recently she and Dad would collaborate on a Sunday afternoon stew.

Mom loved being a grandma. She was never too busy to sit on the floor and play a board game or cards, have a tea party, play house or grocery store. She didn’t really like wild carnival rides, but she’d always go on the kiddie rides at the fair or the tiny train at the mall. She loved parades and always had spare bags for the kids to collect pounds of candy. She was also always up for floating around the pool with the kids, as long as she didn’t get her hair wet.

Clearly, Mom always took a lot of pride in her appearance. She kept up with clothing styles, always had her hair and nails looking pretty and many people often commented that she looked much younger than her actual age.

Mom wasn’t afraid to try new hobbies. She loved to host bridge friends; there was always one hour of bridge and three hours of chatting. She was an avid reader and made excellent book recommendations. She loved word searches and other puzzles because they kept her mind sharp. She enjoyed playing golf and following golf on TV. She always had her favorite stars…..never Tiger. One of her favorite family activities was boating at Clear Lake and through the waterways around Naples where she loved hunting for the prettiest shells. Most recently she had starting watching movies on the Hallmark Channel. She liked to watch before bed because they always had a happy ending.

As a young couple in Iowa, mom and dad loved the adventure of traveling with their friends to Las Vegas, Florida and Europe. On the last day of school each year, we all gathered on their bed to plan a family vacation. They treated all 20 family members to a very special week in the Georgia mountains to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary during Christmas 2012.

After Dad’s passing in October, she took pride in keeping his resting place decorated with beautiful flowers and festive items according to the season and holiday. The four of us hope we can live up to her example. Mom went through the healing process, becoming courageously independent over recent months. She was planning to rejoin the country club and take up golf again, where she had played with Dad twice a week for many summers. She had started playing bridge and board games with her girlfriends and had started going on family outings again. She was excited about the prospect of taking a trip to Iowa to visit friends and family, see Clear Lake, Hampton, Des Moines, Okoboji and make her first visit to Dyersville.

Mom was a giver. Once Mom made a friend, they were her forever friend. She checked up on them with phone calls, texts and in-person visits. She was dedicated to giving her time to those who were important to her. Most of her time went to her forever friend….our Dad. She took care of him in sickness and in health…..just as she vowed to do back in 1959.

In the words of Maya Angelou “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Mom always made us feel loved, confident and cherished. We all are better people for having her as our mom and she will live on in us forever. When our long-time neighbor heard of mom’s passing, his statement was “Someone in Heaven is saying ‘we have a new neighbor!”