Karen L Schwartz

Karen Linda Schwartz was born October 4th, 1960 in Champaign, IL, the older daughter of Jacob and Florence Schwartz. When she was four, the family moved to Makati, near Manila, The Philippines, where her father worked for the United States Information Agency. At age six, Karen and her mother sailed to California and returned to Champaign. Her sister Andrea joined them a year later.

When Karen was 11, the family moved to Danville, IL, where she graduated from Danville High School. She earned a degree in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. She managed a Radio Shack in Chicago, then moved to Denver and fell in love with Colorado at age 22. She earned a Master's Degree in Communications at Denver University and worked at MCI.

Fluent in Spanish, Karen served with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic for two years, returning to Las Cruces, NM. As a middle school science and English as a Second Language teacher, Karen taught in Albuquerque and Duluth, MN, finally returning to her beloved Denver and the Colorado mountains where she taught at Clear Lake and Shaw Heights middle schools. She owned homes in Littleton and Englewood, and remained in the Denver Metro area the rest of her life.

Karen was a vibrant person with many interests and passions. She was an avid bike rider, skier, kayaker, traveler, photographer, reader, knitter, and lover of the arts. She summited many Colorado 14ers with Prairie, her beloved border collie-spaniel. A lifelong vegetarian, Karen was a great friend to animals, adopting several dogs and cats. In 2008, Karen was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. She retired from teaching in 2012.

Karen is survived by her mother, Florence Schwartz, sister Andrea Schwartz, brother Theo Black, aunts, uncles, and numerous cousins.

Karen requested donations in her memory be made to Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, www.greenwoodwildlife.org, PO Box 18987, Boulder, CO 80308, 303-823-8455.

A Celebration of Karen's Life will be held on Sunday, March 30, 2014 at 11:00AM at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary in Centennial.