Karen L Hart

Karen Hart, passed away March 4, 2017 at the age of 74. She was born October 6, 1942 in Moline, Illinois to Edward and Dorothy Swanson. She lived and attended school in Woodhull, IL except her junior year of high school spent in Phoenix, AZ. She graduated from Alwood High School. She attended Augustana College in Rock Island, IL and completed a bachelor's degree with a teaching certification. She taught high school English for two years in Ottawa, IL and then pursued a Master's degree in library science. In Ottawa she began her lifelong love of traveling by spending a summer touring Europe, at which time her father passed. After visiting Colorado often on prior family vacations, she was determined to spend her life there. In 1967 she moved to Colorado Springs, CO and began teaching at Wasson High School and continued grad school at Denver University. In Colorado Springs she became an avid skier and was a member of the Snow Jets ski club and was part of the Four Seasons young adult group where she met her husband to be Tom. They were married August 30, 1970 just days after receiving a Master's degree in library science from D.U. She became a librarian at Wasson High School until the summer of 1972 when she and Tom moved to Breckenridge, CO and built their first house with the help of family and friends while living in tents and the garage. Just days before the school term started they moved into their new house and she began her job as librarian at the Summit County Public Library. Their first son Dan was born in 1973 while in Breckenridge. In the spring of 1974 they moved to Canon City, CO on the famous Blossom Festival weekend. The next few years would be her only time not working at her beloved library career. She kept very busy with the birth of surprise twins, Aaron and Allison, in 1976. Now she had three children under three years old. She helped form a babysitting coop for young mothers and was active in the Lutheran church as the Sunday school superintendent for several years, among other things including her active role in the Lutheran World Relief hunger program. When the twins became school age she began working for the Colorado State Library System as a children's program consultant for southeastern Colorado where she traveled extensively, meeting many kindred spirits in the small-town librarians she worked with along the way. In 1984 she was overjoyed to become the librarian at Canon City High School where she worked tirelessly from 1984 to 1995, seeing her three kids come and go during the late 1980s through the mid-1990s during which time she was an avid CCHS soccer supporter. Her wanderlust, with the help of her beloved uncle Warren, ensured life was not all work and homemaking and allowed the family to travel extensively during summers and holidays.They traveled to all but one of the lower 48 states while the children were growing up even retracing part of the Oregon trail on one trip. She and Tom, with members of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, made three mission trips to a sponsor congregation in the mountains of northern Guatemala, often requiring miles of hiking to get to remote villages. Her last professional years were spent at what is now Colorado State University-Pueblo where she was the government documents librarian, working through a major remodel of the library building. She ended her career on a high when her dream of being a librarian on the University of Pittsburg's Semester at Sea program came true in the fall of 2000. She was the college cruise ship librarian for 600 students and faculty on a five-month circumnavigation of the globe leaving Vancouver with ports of call in Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Africa, Brazil, Cuba, and ending in New Orleans. In Cuba, she attended a presentation sponsored and headlined by Fidel Castro himself, who talked to all 600 students and faculty for five hours. After retiring she and her family continued their travels in Peru, Spain, New Zealand/Australia, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Isreal, and Sweden where she visited the villages and church of her Swedish grandparents. Her greatest hobby was scrapbooking where her creative talent flourished, showcased in the many stunning scrapbooks about family and travels. She also loved to present travelogues of her travels for organizations and retirement homes when she wasn't volunteering as an adult reading literacy tutor. Karen was preceded in death by brother, Larry; her parents and grandparents. She is survived by husband Tom; sons, Daniel (Suzannah) Hart and Aaron (Beth) Hart; daughter, Allison Hart; step-daughter Jenny (Larry) Hill; step-son Greg (Susan) Stein; step-grandchildren Seth Davidson, Sara Stein and Olivia Stein and nephew Brad (Kristina) Swanson; and niece, Amie (Will) Jensen (Swanson). A memorial service will be held at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Canon City, CO at 10:30 am on Friday, March 10, 2017. In lieu of flowers please make checks payable to ELCA World Hunger. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ELCA Gift Processing Center P.O. Box 1809 Merrifield, VA 22116-8009 http://www. elca.org/en/Our-Work/ Relief-and-Develop ment/ELCA-World-Hunger/Ways-to-Give

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