Hanna Karon

1925 - 2023

Hanna Karon
10/15/1925 - 06/06/2023
Hanna Karon passed away June 6, 2023 peacefully with her daughter, Magdalene Karon MD and her son-in-law John D Stewart MD at her side. She was 97. She is survived by her brother Richard Stempkowski DVM ( Kracow, Poland), her grandchildren Magda Stewart DVM and John P Stewart ( Suzette).
Her life was an amazing journey. She was born October 15, 1925 in Brzesc nad Buziem in Eastern Poland, now Western Ukraine , and grew up in Zbaraz near Lviv. She was born into Polish Royalty under the coat of arms of Suche Komnaty. Her father Count Kazimierz Stempkowski was a land owner and Polish cavalry officer. Her ancestry included General Stempkowski , King Sobieski's right hand man in the epic Battle of Vienna in 1683; Ludwig Stempkowski 17th century Bishop of Kamyamets-Podilskyi; Gen Juzef Stempkowski Mayor of Kiev 1785-1790; her uncle Stanislaw Skalski WW II's second leading aviation ace. In 1945 the Soviets expelled them from and confiscated their estate and they moved to their house in Kracow. She was given her first communion there by the bishop of her Catholic Cathedral, Karol Wojtyla , later to be Pope John Paul II.
She completed her education at Kracow's Jagiellonian University, the second oldest in Europe, including dental school , then practicing dentistry over 30 years. Her comment: "the Bolsheviks can take our possessions but they cannot take our education". She married Jan Karon, a concert violinist and master violin-maker and moved to Warsaw where they raised their daughter. Refusing to join the communist party, which would deny their daughter the opportunity for a college education, they defected to Houston Texas for his pre-arranged position in the Houston Symphony in 1970, Hanna for a second time leaving everything behind. Herself she was a pianist and a linguist. In addition to her continued professional work Hanna and Jan established a Houston Polonia , greeting and hosting both newcomers and friends from the Eastern European intelligentsia. She was a co-founder of the Polish church in Houston.
Retiring in the 1990s Hanna and Jan moved to Lexington KY to be with their daughter and grandchildren. New friends and Christ the King Cathedral were important features of her newly adopted and final home, Kentucky.
More important than her remarkable story is Hanna the person. She was gracious, generous, caring and warm-hearted, always providing for others before herself; a character symbolized by the softest most perfect smile. Family called her The Saint defining a lady who never pronounced a bad word about another; a true model of goodness. God bless Hanna Karon.
The funeral will be a private graveside service for family at the Calvary Cemetery in Lexington. Please visit www.milwardfuneral.com to leave comments and words of encouragement for the family.