Karen "Gilmore" Gorndt

KAREN (GILMORE) GORNDT Oakland, CA - Karen (Gilmore) Egan Gorndt passed away on September 2, 2003, in Oakland, CA, after a valiant struggle with metastatic melanoma. She was 55. Karen was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, January 16, 1948, to Hugh and Anna Mary (Lewis) Gilmore. She spent her childhood in Sioux Falls, and was graduated from O'Gorman High School in 1966. She attended the College of St. Mary in Omaha, NE, where she obtained a B.A. with a major in Sociology in 1970. Karen lived her adult life in Oakland, CA., marrying Dr. Richard Egan in 1972. She devoted her life to her family and to her work, working until her passing as Director of Clinical Research at the Bay Area Tumor Institute in Oakland, CA where she created a community-based clinical research program, and made countless sacrifices to nurture this effort to provide optimal therapy to cancer patients in the East Bay. Karen married Grey Gorndt (Florida) in August, 2000. Karen is preceded in death by her parents, and grandparents. Survivors include her husband, Grey, and her children, Kristen and Sean Egan, both of Oakland. She is further survived by her sisters and brother and their families, Mary Kay DeGroot (Douglas), Jean Strimple (Dale), Colleen Stone (Jerry), Sue Anne Kidd (Tyrone), and John Gilmore, as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. A Funeral Mass will be held at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 322 St. James Drive, Piedmont, CA., (510-533-4343) on Monday, September 8 at 10:00 am. Memorials can be made to the following in honor of Karen's lifetime work: Bay Area Tumor Institute, 400 30th Street, Suite 301, Oakland, CA 94609.