Karen A. Webb

Karen Ann Webb (age 76) of Chelan went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on October 10, 2019 at Colonial Vista in Wenatchee, Washington. She was a selfless loving woman with a warm, kind, and gentle spirit who truly loved people and gave generously of herself to all; an example of authentic Christianity.  Karen enjoyed many past times, but music was an instrumental part of her life, as she enjoyed singing, playing the piano, the organ, and the bass violin, which she did at home, for her church, and for the local orchestra for several community events.  Karen was always active in church.  The Little Stone (now Living Stone) Church became a large part of her life and she served there in many capacities.  She played the piano, the organ, and even the base violin at services. She ran the prayer chain for years and was involved in serving children through the Awana Program there.  Karen served on the church board for several years as the representative of the Womens’ Missionary Fellowship.  Above all, Karen loved people; treasuring time with both her family and friends. 

Karen was born on May 11, 1943 in Seattle and grew up in the family home of John and Adeline Halvorson in the Green Lake area of Seattle, Washington.  Karen was the first born of what would eventually become a family of seven.  Karen graduated from Lincoln High School in Seattle in 1961. Karen had the desire for higher education and started in the nursing program at Pacific Lutheran University, but soon became ill and was forced to drop out of school in the spring of her first year.  When her health improved, Karen enrolled in and graduated from Lutheran Bible Institute.  Still desiring to pursue nursing, she enrolled in nursing school again at Edison Technical School, graduating from there in 1965 with an LPN license. While there, she made friends with two other nurses. Wanting to do something adventurous, they left the area and found employment at Stanford University hospital in California.  The three girls moved into an apartment together in Palo Alto, sharing the rent three ways. One of the trio eventually left and went back home, leaving Karen and the other nurse to pay the rent. As a result, they were forced to move into a 4 plex in Mountain View, California on March 10, 1966.  There was a young man living in the apartment next to the girls who had taken notice of Karen and soon introduced himself to her.  That young man became her eventual husband of 52 years, Don Webb.

Karen and Don were married on January 7, 1967 at Karen’s home church, Denny Park Lutheran Church in Seattle.  After getting married, the two moved into their first home in Fremont, California in the South Bay Area of San Francisco, where Karen continued nursing and Don commuted to his job across the Bay.   Their first child Todd was born while there in 1971.  While there, Don became frustrated with the traffic and the massive growth of the region, so found a new job with the telephone company in what was then the small town of Lodi.  Karen and Don moved there later on that same year, enjoying the small town and the slower pace of life. Karen wound up taking many long trips to care for Don’s mom Ima May Tolerton Webb, as her health deteriorated until her passing in 1973.

In 1975, Karen and Don were blessed once again with the birth of their second child Melissa.  Karen’s dad started having medical problems and failing health eventually too, so Karen wanted to move back to Washington in order to help her mom with her dad.  Karen and the family relocated back to Seattle in January of 1977 and the family settled once again into living in a city environment.  It was not long before they were looking for a simpler life style again though, so in August of 1977, Don was able to find a job with General Telephone Company at the satellite company COMSAT just north of Brewster, Washington.  Karen and Don bought a small farm in the Elm-way area of Okanogan and the whole family enjoyed farm life with fruit trees, chickens, ducks, a goose named Charlie, dogs, and surrounding neighborhood animals. Karen went back into nursing at the local hospital in Omak while Don worked evenings and took care of the family during the daytime. 

When COMSAT shut down in 1983, the company moved Karen and the family to Chelan.  It was considered a down time for the nation’s economy and jobs were hard for many to find, but not for Karen.  She found employment at the Coast to Coast hardware store in downtown Chelan. She also worked briefly at one of the local hotels, doing maid service cleaning rooms. Another fun job she liked, though it was sometimes stressful for her, was working for The Lake Chelan Mirror. Her boss would frequently send her out delivering vacation guides in his old station wagon all over the country, which would often break down in the most remote areas. 

In 1987, Karen returned to the work she enjoyed the most as a nurse at Regency Manor.  She loved the people at Regency, both clients and staff alike, and with both kids in school now, she soon knew seemingly everybody in town.  Karen worked at Regency Manor for over 11 years until tragedy struck in 1999.  A fall left her paralyzed from the waist down, so she was forced to quit her job as a nurse.  She would remain in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.  Despite the constant physical limitations resulting from her unfortunate accident that served as an ever present reminder of it, Karen was always positive, hopeful, and upbeat, never choosing to wallow in self pity, or to ever harbor any ill will towards God nor anyone else.  Although she could no longer serve as a nurse, Karen was never a quitter.  She became a medical transcriptionist for about 5 years until that field became totally automated.  Karen and Don were able to still travel and visit friends and relatives up until Karen’s health started to deteriorate further.  Karen was forced to enter the hospital in late 2017, where she remained till her passing. 

Karen was preceded in her death by her father John Oliver Halvorson, her mother Adeline Rosella (Bergand), her two twin brothers John and Jim, Jim’s wife Sue, and Karen’s sister Roselyn Meyer and her husband Mike Meyer.  

Karen is survived by her husband Don of Chelan, her son Todd Webb, his wife Michelle, and their boys Caleb, Joshua, and Daniel of Oak Harbor, Karen’s daughter Melissa of Snohomish, Karen’s only living sister Juanita Serrato of Seattle, her niece Kristen Serrato of Federal Way,  niece Becky Peterson and her family of Everett, niece Alethea and her family of Lake Stevens,  niece Sarah Meyer of Leavenworth, nephew Ian Meyer of Everett, nephew Eric Halvorson and his family of Monroe, nephew Brian Halvorson and his family of Henderson, Nevada,  niece Jody Halvorson of Olympia, sister-in-law Debbie Halvorson of Burien, niece Kathy Halvorson Wheeler and her family of Shoreline, niece Shelley Cary of Shoreline, and adopted grandkids Eric and Ondra Craw of Chelan.  

We would like to thank all the staff at both Central Washington Hospital and Colonial Vista who provided Karen such wonderful love and care. Karen will be interned at the Smith Mountain Cemetery in Dinuba, California at a later date.  Any donations would be greatly appreciated and can be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association.  

A memorial service is planned for November 9 at 1:00 p.m. at the Chelan United Methodist Church in Chelan, Wash.

Please leave any thoughts and memories for the family at www.prechtrose.com.

Precht Rose Chapel is entrusted with services.