Growing Up:
Karen grew up in Arlington, MN. She has 3 brothers and 1 of them is her twin brother! She lived in the small town of Arlington most of her life and went to high school at Arlington High School. Later, she went to school at St Baravis Medical School, which is now known as HCMC in Minneapolis. She went to college to purse a degree in Nursing.
Marriage:
She met her husband in 1956 at a bar. She rode home with one of her nursing friends from school that day, and her friend wanted to stop and see her boyfriend at the bar in Norwood Young America. That’s where she found Bob! They started talking and a week later he called her and asked her if she wanted to go out for dinner, and from there the rest is history! They got married in 1958 at St Paul’s Church in Arlington. They had 4 children together, 2 girls and 2 boys, and she now has 5 grandkids.
Work Life:
Karen had worked a lot of hours as a Nurse. She worked at the Glencoe Area Health Center for 37 years, 16 of those years she worked as a Surgery Nurse, and lastly worked 6 years as a OB Nurse. She really enjoyed being a Nurse until she got older. Karen got into Long Term Care when her children grew up so she could attend more of her kids and grandkids events.
Retirement:
Karen retired in 2000 and then got a job at Ridgewater College in Hutchinson, MN. She taught Home Health Aid and CNA classes for future nursing majors. After she retired, she moved to Big Swan Lake in the Dassel – Cokato area, where she lived for 22 years. She traveled to Hawaii and Europe for a month after she retired. She used to spend her winters in Sanibel, Florida and Corpus Christi, Texas. She enjoys doing garden work and spending time with her grandkids.
Woodstone:
Karen moved into Woodstone Active Living April of 2022. She decided to move into our community for health reasons and wanted a safe environment in case anything would ever happen. Karen toured 6 other facilities and thought that Woodstone would be the best fit for her! “I felt very comfortable here when I came on my tour. I told my kids that I could see myself living here, so I didn’t tour any other independent living facilities after that”, said Karen. She likes that they have the choice to pick and choose whether you want to be active in the activities or not. She is also very thankful to have met the people who live here.
We are very happy to have Karen as a part of our Woodstone Family. If you know Karen, you know she is one of the sweetest people! She always has a beautiful smile on her face!
Best,
McKenna Monahan
Marketing Specialist
