Karen Johnson Guest's Obituary
Karen Elizabeth Johnson Guest of East Burke, Vermont, and Annapolis, Maryland, wife, mother of two daughters, and grandmother of five grandchildren, lost her struggle with metastatic breast cancer on December 23, 2023. The cancer had been in remission for 12 years and its reoccurrence came without warning and it advanced rapidly.
Sometimes active and adventurous, sometimes a reclusive homebody, and always her own person, Karen liked the simpler things in life—family gatherings, traditional comfort food, a good inexpensive wine, no-frills style and dress. She was a Registered Nurse, a school volunteer, a swim team and figure skating mom, an avid reader of mysteries and police procedurals, an occasional gardener, and a baseball fan. Late in life, she rooted for the Boston Red Sox and a trip to Fenway was always a thrill, but she still had a soft spot for the Baltimore Orioles. At age 58, with osteoarthritis and two artificial knees, she learned to ski. Karen loved to work jigsaw and sudoku puzzles and word games, and especially spend time with family. In midlife, during her husband’s overseas posting to our embassy in Denmark, she became an unofficial guide for spouses of visiting American officials, as well as hostess for informal events with Danish counterparts. Upon returning to the States, she got back into nursing at a Baltimore neighborhood clinic. She specialized in pediatrics. When her husband retired from government service, Karen left nursing and they moved to their vacation home in East Burke, Vermont. In retirement she and her husband traveled frequently around North America, pulling a travel trailer and visiting friends, wineries, historic sites, and national parks. They managed to see 48 of the 50 states and all 10 Canadian provinces and Yukon Territory. Later they took up ocean cruising and at various times visited Hawaii, Alaska, the Mexican Riviera, the Panama Canal, South America, as well as northern Europe, Iceland, and Greenland. They once wandered around New Zealand for several weeks by car. Karen was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the youngest of three children of Harold “Pete” Johnson and Helen Orr Johnson. Her paternal grandparents were immigrants from Dalarna County, Sweden, while her maternal Orr family boasts an ancestor who served in the Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolutionary War. At an early age Karen moved with her family to southern New Jersey. She graduated from Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mt. Holly, N.J. and received her Registered Nurse training at the Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia. She and her husband spent their working lives and raised their daughters in Columbia, Maryland. Karen is survived by her husband, Edmund J. Guest, III, of East Burke, Vermont, daughters Shelly Guest Cermak and husband Adam of Alexandria, Virginia, and Kristen Guest Kasprow and her husband, Daniel, of Annapolis, Maryland; grandchildren Ben and Nate Cermak and Sam, Lucas, and Nova Kasprow; a sister, Sandra Johnson Black of Marlton, New Jersey, and numerous cousins, nephews, and nieces. A brother, Patrick Johnson, predeceased her. Friends and family are invited to gather for a memorial celebration of Karen’s life at Lasting Tributes, 814 Bestgate Road, Annapolis, Maryland, on January 6th from 4 to 6 pm. Shared memories will begin at 4:30. A separate memorial will be held in East Burke, Vermont, in the future, date and time to be announced.
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