Karen Kay Fenn

Karen Kay Fenn

Mission, TX

Karen Kay Fenn, 64, of Mission, TX, went home to be with her Savior on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Her celebration of life services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, 2023, at Jones Eden Funeral Home with Trent Grimes officiating. Visitation will begin 5:00 p.m. Monday, June 5, at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home where the family will be present to receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Interment will be at Elm Grove Cemetery in Washington, IA, following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of Washington County.

Karen was born on December 10, 1958, in Washington, IA. As a little kid, she and her siblings spent lots of nights camping in their back yard or playing with other kids outside race shops. With her dad being a racer she spent quite a bit of her childhood at several Iowa dirt tracks where she knew most of the well known racers. She gained a lot of knowledge about mechanics over the years from her dad. She could also be found working at her parents’ farm implement shop, Fenn Farm Service, helping her mom do the bookkeeping. She was also a bit of a daredevil and was known to sometimes beat the boys while she was racing her snowmobile.

Karen held various managerial jobs and she put herself fully into whatever she did and was a very hard worker. She was fortunate enough to retire early and enjoy her life with family and friends.

Over the years, Karen could be found shooting pool, listening to live music, playing cards and board games, bike riding, preserving family history and thrift shopping among other things. In whatever she was doing, it was a guarantee she was surrounded by her friends.

She always made time to see her daughter and two grandchildren who lived out of state, even after moving to southern Texas, two years ago.

The dark tan Karen had was evidence she enjoyed being outdoors, whether it was bicycling, taking pride in her beautiful landscape or hanging out on warm beach islands, Jamaica being a favorite.

In 2017, she was happy to share a very special baptismal service with loved ones.

Between her earlier years as a cross country semi truck driver and her more current adventures in her Winnebago Rialta RV, Karen visited nearly every state and many state and national parks. In addition to her love for travel, she was very outgoing and she truly enjoyed doing life with her family and friends.

Most people knew her as fearless, active and always up for a new adventure. She always had a determination to accomplish what she put her mind to, no matter what. Many people also knew her as fun loving and a loyal friend.

Karen gave the gift of life through organ donation.

Karen is survived by her daughter, Devon Grimes of Newbern, TN; grandson, Uriah and granddaughter, Ana; sister, Beth Mikels of Houston, MO; sister, Cathy Fenn of Crawfordsville, IA; and niece, Amanda (Jerry) Moeller and daughter, Kourtney of Washington, IA.

Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Kenneth and Elizabeth (Betty) Fenn of Washington, IA; grandparents, Prior and Ellen Fenn of Washington, IA; and grandparents, George and Mary Brown of Batavia, IA.