Obituary - Karen J. Rathbun

Karen Jean Rathbun, 71, joined the choir of heavenly angels Dec. 29, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz. Too young, she suffered a stroke and was not able to recover, or finish her shuffleboard game. She is dearly missed by her many family and friends.

Karen was born Sept. 22, 1940, to Pearl Adams and her then husband, Glen Lefler, in Orofino. When Karen was about 2 years old, her mother remarried and raised Karen together with her stepfather, Harold Adams, in Kamiah. She attended Kamiah schools, graduating in 1958, and remained in very close contact with her classmates and met annually for class reunions.

Upon her graduation, she moved to Moscow where she found full-time employment with the state of Idaho and soon met her husband-to-be on a blind date. They were married June 18, 1960, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Moscow. It was about that time she also found her career path at the Inland Merchants Association in Moscow, where she was a credit and collection agent. She enjoyed her work and looked forward to the related business conventions where she enjoyed donning evening dresses for the banquets at these events. She worked there until the firm was sold in 1980, at which time she opened her own collection agency, Accounts Recovery. She retired from the business in 1997.

In a word, Karen mostly enjoyed socializing. She loved people and parties. The Rathbuns were big on Sunday family dinners while the kids were young, and she hosted and cooked for many of them. She and her husband were active in the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department and looked forward to their many potlucks, and also camp outs along the St. Joe River. For several years, she hosted a big Christmas party at their home, where she cooked and served an entire spread for all their friends, the highlight being her renowned Wiener Schnitzel. She also hosted a few Hawaiian luau parties in the backyard of her home. Besides hundreds of romance novels, she loved reading cookbooks and self-published her favorite recipes into a cookbook of her own. In recent years, she was introduced to karaoke and was passionate about her music, priding herself on singing new songs and arrangements each week at the Elk's Club in Green Valley, Ariz. She also enjoyed word games and playing cards with her friends and family.

In 1997, the couple were invited to travel to Arizona and stay with friends for a few weeks. Both fell in love with the Rincon Country West RV Resort Park in Tucson. They bought a "park model" there the following year and have been snowbirds ever since. Karen regarded Arizona as heaven on Earth and looked forward to her time there with her many friends, happy days, and also happy hour. She was very active in the park's shuffleboard league and spent many hours pool-side visiting and working on her tan.

Karen is survived by her husband of 51 years; daughter and son-in-law; son and daughter-in-law; one granddaughter; two grandsons; her mother and three sisters. She was preceded in death by her father, stepfather, and brother, Wesley Adams.
A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Moscow. A lunch will follow in the church fellowship hall. An earlier service was conducted Jan. 1 in Tucson. The family suggests memorial donations be made to one's favorite charity or the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department.

The Lewiston Tribune, January 8, 2012, p. 5C
Transcribed by Jill Leonard Nock