Karen Ellingson Trueheart

Trueheart, Karen

Ellingson

Pittsford: Born March 10, 1945, to Marcia (nee Randall) and Mark Ellingson. Died September 2. Predeceased by her parents, and her sister, Laura Ellingson Chapman. Survived by her husband, Harry Trueheart, son Eric Trueheart of Los Angeles, daughter Kathryn Trueheart of Park City Utah, brother Jon Ellingson and wife Kathy of Missoula Montana, sister Louise Ellingson of Branson, Missouri, and brother and sister in law Drs. John and Pamela Burch of Pittsford, NY.

Karen was married to Harry Trueheart in June 1965 and returned from Cambridge Massachusetts to Rochester when Harry joined Nixon Hargrave Devans and Doyle, now Nixon Peabody LLP, where, in time, he served as Chairman and CEO from 1994 to 2008.

Karen and Harry had two children, Eric, a screenwriter in Los Angeles, and Kathryn, a Physician Assistant and acupuncturist at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Karen's father was president of the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1936 to 1969. Her grandfather, John Randall, served as RIT president from 1922 to 1936. Karen was a member of RIT's Women's Council. Her husband serves as a member of the RIT Board of Trustees.

Karen had degrees from the University of Vermont, Boston University and the California Institute of Integral Studies.

A fine athlete, Karen was a teaching tennis professional and the President of the Ski Valley ski area. An accomplished horsewoman, and an excellent trainer of dogs, Karen loved animals and seemed to have an intuitive understanding of them.

Integrating the wisdom of the world's spiritual traditions with modern science, Karen became a widely loved teacher and counselor. Karen served on the faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies and became Director of the Center for Psychological and Physical Health there. More recently, she was an East-West spiritual teacher and counselor for Christ Episcopal Church in Pittsford, New York. She also taught at the Center for Spirituality and Psychotherapy in New York City.

She was Board Chair of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence at the University of Rochester and the Founder of Heartprints for Humanity, organizations dedicated to using compassionate and pragmatic means to create a more harmonious world. Karen also served on the Boards of United Neighborhood Centers of Greater Rochester, a project of the United Way; and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Karen and her husband Harry were summer residents of Blue Hill Maine. She quickly became a beloved member of the community and was one of the guiding lights of the first Downeast Spiritual Life Conference. She served on the steering committee for the conference and was scheduled to be a workshop presenter until the cancer she had been fighting returned.

At the time of her death, Karen was working with writer Victoria Harris on a book titled Dancing With Uncertainty and had completed a CD of her teachings and guided meditations.

Over the years, Karen's perceptive and wise counsel earned her the gratitude not only of family and friends, but countless others who will miss her very much.

There will be a celebration of Karen's life on Saturday September 15, 2012 at 11am in the Panara Theater at Rochester Institute of Technology. A reception will follow in the Dyer Arts Center at 12 Noon. There will be no calling hours.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in remembrance of Karen may be made to the M K Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence (www.gandhiinstitute.org ); Rochester Institute of Technology Ellingson Scholarship Fund, or Christ Episcopal Church, Pittsford, NY.