Obituaries

Karen passed away at Washington Hospital, Fremont at the age of 70. She was born in Los Angeles but lived most of her life in the Bay Area. She graduated from Pacific High School in San Leandro in 1963. She is survived by her husband of 46 years Ken, her son Troy and wife Julie, Tony and his 2 children Kayleigh and Chloe, and Mark and his wife Tona and their son Royce, her sister Marti Jamison, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father Frank Woodward from Los Angeles, her mother Lois Thompson from San Francisco, and her brother James Woodward. Karen was a very loving person and in spite of many physical problems she went out of her way to help friends and families. She always had a positive attitude and always saw the goodness in everyone. Over the years nearly 50 people called her house home. Throughout her life she maintained a tax and bookkeeping business. She will be sorely missed.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 7th, 1pm at the Jehovah‘s Witnesses Kingdom Hall, 1611 Washington Blvd., Fremont, CA 94539.

My write up of my wife’s life as I remember it.

Karen Marie Johnson

The Reader’s Digest used to have a feature story every month called “The Most Unforgettable Person I Ever Met”.

For me, Karen was that person. Karen went through more pain and suffering than any other person I have ever met. In spite of all this she was also one of the most generous people I ever knew.

To start with, Karen was born with deformed hip joints. Three weeks after she was born her father was killed in a mid air plane crash over Texas. She was in Los Angeles and he was stationed somewhere on the East Coast. He had only seen Karen once when she was born. Since her father was a doctor, he may have noticed the problem with her hips. As it was she was over a year old before anyone realized why she was having trouble walking. Both of her hips were dislocated at birth and the sockets were very shallow. By then they had deformed to the point she could hardly walk.

When she was about 5 years old they performed some bone grafts to create some sort of hip sockets. She was in a cast that stretched from her ankles to her armpits for nearly 2 years. After that she was able to walk, but with a severe limp.

Sometime around this period her mother remarried. He was a person who did not believe in sparing the rod. She and her older brother were constantly beat and as she got a little older, he began to sexually abuse her. Around this time she also had to have her appendix and her tonsils removed (Additional surgery).

Her mother finally got a divorce and remarried again. Her new stepfather was much better and Karen gave him a lot of credit for giving her some guidance in life.

Despite her problems at home and her bad limp, she managed to get through high school. While in high school she developed a liking for bookkeeping. After high school she got jobs at various places doing basic accounting work. An accountant she met hired her to work for him part time. There she learned how to do taxes and more complex bookkeeping.

When she was 18 years old her grandmother died and she and her brother inherited a little money. Her brother bought a car and she put a down payment on a house. About that time she also got married.

She continued to work part time as a bookkeeper and, on March 1967 she had a son, but by then her husband was gone.

I first met her in about June of 1967. A friend of mine and I stopped at her house to visit her brother who worked with my friend. Being bachelors we didn’t get over there until sometime after the bars had closed. The guy we came to visit was sound asleep on the family room floor. It was about 3:30 in the morning and this young gal was trying to sooth a fussy baby. She looked pretty tired and had a bad limp, so I took the baby and rocked him for a while. After a time he quieted down. The guy on the floor never woke up so my friend and I left.

About a month later we were invited to a birthday party and it turned out to be at the same house. The party was being hosted by the woman who owned the house and the party was for her brother. (This turned out to be the guy that was sleeping on the floor.) The party was a success and Karen and I stayed up all night, then went out for breakfast.

About a week later while partying with my buddies this same gal (Karen) invited me on a trip to Drakes Bay with some friends of hers. From that time on we were together all the time.

While we were dating she had to move out of her house and back in with her mother because she couldn’t afford the $104 house payments. She rented the house out until we were married. We got married on December 28th 1968. We picked that date because I only had a few vacation days and I would be able to claim her and her son as deductions for 1968. She was already good at taxes.

Tony was born on February 13th 1970. Mark was born on February 18 1971. Later that year I legally adopted Troy (the baby I had rocked when I first met her). We bought a house in Fremont and moved there in February 1972. We have lived here ever since except for a 4 year break when we moved to Cameron Park. My work forced me to move back. Fortunately we didn’t sell the house.

Throughout Karen’s life she was always finding people who needed help. In the 46 years we were married, we had someone living with us almost all the time. We had 5 different families who lived with us for a year or more. We had 2 tee- age girls, one teen aged boy, a couple estranged wives, Karen’s mother, her brother and 2 sisters. We currently have my son Tony and his 2 daughters living with us. Over the years we have had over 50 people who have called our house home.

In 1970-71 she had both hips replaced which allowed her to walk much better. Eighteen months later they both got infected and she spent 6 weeks in the hospital. After 4 or 5 surgeries they permanently removed the artificial joints to stop the infection. In 1975 she was confined to a wheel chair. In 1976 a friend “popped” her neck causing a stroke. She ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks. She was unable to talk and one side was partially paralyzed. She recovered from that with only minor problems. They included a blind spot in her vision, and she said when she came home from the hospital the house floor plan was reversed.

From 1976 to 2000 she had 4 more hip surgeries due to a infection flair ups. Sometime in the 90’s she suffered another minor stroke however, she seemed to recover OK.

In 2009 she suffered a brain aneurysm and spent 3 weeks at the UC Medical Center in San Francisco. She had to undergo brain surgery to repair a blood vessel behind her eyes. She had some minor affects from that surgery. She was no longer quite as quick which slowed her down a bit but she was just as determined as ever. After some struggle she was able to resume her accounting business.

While all this was going on she raised 3 sons and a husband. She helped all the people who lived with us. This included much letter writing, trips to the IRS, and to court. She got several people qualified for disability. And she maintained a bookkeeping and tax business. She was involved for several years with a company call Market America and attended numerous conventions and schools in North Carolina and Florida. She was involved in 3 different multilevel marketing companies that she thought was going to get us rich.

In 2003 my son Tony and his extended family (significant other and 4 kids) moved in. Two granddaughters were born (Kayleigh in 2004 and Chloe in 2007). Our grandson, Royce was born to my son Mark and his wife.

Until her death she was basically raising her granddaughters (with Dad and Grandpa’s help).

Karen’s dedication to her family and her great love for her grandchildren is the bond that will continue to strengthen and sustain them through the coming years.

She was one of “The Most Unforgettable Person I Ever Met”. Unfortunately I waited until she died to write this.

Ken

A message from Karen’s life-long friend Janet Jones

Similar vocal messages from her other life-long friend Sara Bergin and a fairly recent friend Amber Gaines

Sorrow for our tragic loss and joy for the beautiful life that was Karen are warring emotions. We grew up together and she inspired and encouraged me at every step of the way. Such a kind and loving person, she represented all that is right with this troubled world. She never met a stranger. She was never too busy or too tired to lend a willing hand. Forgiveness was her very nature. Her sweet smile and positive attitude was as a continual ray of sunshine. I'm a better person for having my friend. My heart is broken. Ken, you have been a wonderful partner, husband and father. Find comfort in the beauty that was your marriage. Peace be with you. God bless.