Karen Friedman Taranto

1935 - 2023

Karen Friedman Taranto
October 18, 1935 - May 13, 2023
Carmichael , California - Karen Taranto, the daughter of Sam and Paula Friedman, was born on October 18, 1935 in New York City. Karen grew up in Brooklyn and was educated at home by intellectually minded parents, at New York City schools, including Lafayette High School, and at Brooklyn College, Queens College, and later Carleton College. She met her true love, Don Taranto, a nice boy from the Bronx, while in high school, and they were married on January 2, 1954. They celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in 2023.
In the early years of their marriage, Karen and Don lived in New York City, with short stints in Indiana and Pittsburgh PA. Their three children - Mindy, Richard, and Ken - were born during those years. They then spent four years in Northfield MN, associated with Carleton College, where Karen fell in love with the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and with liberal politics generally. Her political interests were important in her life thereafter.
In Pittsburgh PA, in the mid-60s, while Don pursued a doctorate in mathematics, Karen began a life-long career in health services. She was part of a small team at the Children's Hospital producing an important early study on child abuse. They left Pittsburgh in 1968 for a year in Williamstown MA, then settled permanently in Sacramento in 1969.
Karen's career in healthcare thrived in California. She held leadership positions at an early Health Maintenance Organization, at UC- Davis, and at American River Hospital. Then, with Russ Foster, she co-founded a very successful healthcare consulting firm, PMPM, to provide expertise on the fast-changing and complex regulatory and business sides of healthcare delivery and payment. At PMPM, Karen travelled extensively, consulting with healthcare organizations throughout California and across the country. As co-chief executive officer with Russ, she looked for opportunities to advance women in professional careers. Both Karen and Russ, and those they supervised, earned reputations for knowing how to get things done.
Even while being busy for decades with consulting work, Karen remained active in progressive politics, working on many campaigns and serving on many committees and boards. Throughout her life, she loved and cared attentively for her family, particularly her husband, her children, and their children. And she made close friends, to whom she was devoted. Their mutually sustaining friendships lasted for decades and were central to her life.
Karen is survived by her husband Don; sister Marlene Kanovsky of Ft. Lauderdale FL; three children - Mindy Taranto and husband Ken Mericle of Madison WI, Richard Taranto and wife Vicki Plaut of Washington, DC, and Ken Taranto and wife Barbara of Tel Aviv, Israel; seven grandchildren - David Mericle, Laura Mericle, Julius Taranto, Nora Taranto, Ella Taranto, Avi Taranto, and Isaac Taranto; and one great grandchild - Julian Kamps, now three, and the newest great love of her life.