Karen Kass

Kass (Good), Karen Dianne

Karen Dianne Kass (nee Good), age 78, of Wilmington, NC, passed peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on March 30th.

Karen was born on June 23, 1944, in St. Petersburg, Florida. At the age of five, she moved with her mother, June Hollick, and three younger siblings to Morgantown, West Virginia to live with her grandparents. After graduating from Conemaugh Township High School in Davidsville, Pennsylvania in 1962, Karen became a registered nurse. She spent most of her professional life in the field of medicine, first working stints as a nurse in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Des Moines, Iowa, and Dayton, Ohio, and then transitioning to medical research in Cincinnati, Ohio and Wilmington, North Carolina.

In 1965, while still in western Pennsylvania, Karen met and married Jim Rohal of Johnstown. In the years that followed they had three sons, Chandler, Matthew, and Warren. She raised them with a balance of nurturing love and orderly discipline.

When her boys were in middle school, Karen and Jim began taking them on yearly trips to Ocracoke, North Carolina for summer vacations; Karen had discovered her favorite place on earth.

During Karen's middle years, she separated from Jim and eventually met and married Guenter Kass. It was during these years that Karen transitioned from nursing to research, and from southwest Ohio to the Carolina coast, and in so doing she found the optimal milieu for the next stage of her life. In North Carolina she and Guenter (and their beloved basset hounds, Chloe and Sarah) enjoyed daily walks on the beach, and Karen fulfilled the potential of her organized and nurturing nature when she established her own business, Wilmington Clinical Research, the culmination of her life's work.

Karen is preceded in death by her parents Joseph Good and June Hollick; her husband Jim Rohal, and her husband Guenter Kass.

Karen is survived by her sister Barbara Good, brother Mike Good (Colleen), and sister Joyce Good; her three sons, Chandler Rohal (Johnna), Matthew Rohal, and Warren Rohal (Pamela); grandchildren Chase, Briklynn, Megan and Piper; niece Kristi Good-Paffendorf and family, nephew Michael Good, and niece Heather Good-Luc (Eric); stepson Bill Kass (Stephanie) and family, and stepdaughter Birgit McQuiston (Greg) and family.

Karen also leaves behind her fiancé Bernard W. "Bill" Tillman Jr., (Fredericksburg, Texas) and many close friends and extended family members too numerous to list but all of whose time and love she cherished.

Karen's will be buried in Wilmington, NC.

As an alternative to flowers, memorial donations may be made to Weekend Meals on Wheels, and the Help Center of Federal Point.