Karen Hawkins Andersen's Obituary
June 6, 1933 - Oct. 14, 2019\r\nKaren passed away peacefully on October 14th, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah.\r\nShe was born in Lima, Ohio to Donald T Hawkins and Mildred Elaine Hawkins. The family moved to Evanston, IL in 1948. She graduated from Evanston Township HS in 1951. Karen received a Bachelors degree from Purdue University and a Masters from Northwestern University. She worked as a counselor in the Deerfield School District in IL. Later, she served as the Director of the Kendall College Child Care Center as well as teaching early childhood education courses there. Upon moving to Utah in 1983 Karen worked as a Professor of Education at Westminster College in SLC. She frequently brought her grandchildren as examples for child development and occasionally held classes in her living room. She loved her students and took a real interest in their lives and wanted each to succeed in their education.\r\nHer affiliations included Membership in the Beta Iota chapter of the Delta Gamma Sorority, Alpha Lambda Chapter of the ESA Women's Philanthropic Sorority, and the DG Lunch Bunch in Salt Lake.\r\nKaren was a strong, independent woman. She raised her children from an early age after being widowed. She was loving but tough when she needed to be. She loved to go camping, rock hounding and exploring in Utah's deserts and mountains. Her favorite pastime was reading. She was a talented painter and enjoyed knitting and doing all kinds of crafts. Her greatest pleasure was spending time teaching her grandchildren and expanding their imagination and curiosity for life. This included bringing her rock collection to her grandchildren's elementary classes to teach them about geology. She loved spending summers at Lakes James, Indiana where she spent time as a child and then took her children to "Lakeside" cottage throughout their lives.\r\nShe was preceded in death by her husband Alfred Andersen. She is survived by her sister, Pamela Hawkins Pelkey, her children, Trae Andersen (Amy), and Vicky Bicker (Mike), her grandchildren, Drew Bicker (Gia), Sarah Bicker and David Bicker. Also, her precious great granddaughters, Alice and Grace Bicker.\r\nMany thanks to her support team,Laura, Linda, and Rachelle, Dede and Natalie from Customized Home Health Care.\r\nIn lieu of flowers, please send donations to St. Judes Children's Hospital.
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