Karen Louise Jaeger

1948 - 2022

Karen Louise Jaeger

Karen Louise Jaeger, passed away June 1, 2022, at home surrounded by loved ones, after a year-long fight against cancer.

Karen was born in March of 1948, in Superior, NE, to Bill and Emily Petersen, who were living in the Danish enclave of Ruskin, NE, at the time. Eventually, her family bought a farm outside Racine, WI, where Karen grew up, helping on the farm and selling vegetables and eggs at the family farm stand with her two younger brothers, Ken and Jim.

While attending St Olaf College, she worked as a bible camp counselor during the summer of 1968, when she met the love of her life, Jim Jaeger. They got married on June 20, 1970, and immediately went to the South Pacific island of Yap for two years of service as Peace Corps Volunteers.

Upon returning to the United States, Karen and Jim lived in Washington DC while Jim attended law school and where their first son Jesse was born. The young family then moved to Philadelphia, where Karen finished her education to become a Physical Therapist. The family lived briefly in Springfield, IL, where their second son Andy was born, before finally settling in Madison, WI.

Karen's degree was in physical therapy, but her vocation was being a healer. Over her long career moved from doing only physical therapy to getting training in craniosacral therapy. In her vocation as a healer, she helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people, including continuing to work up until just two months before her death.

Beyond her vocation as a healer, Karen was a passionate campaigner for progressive causes. Be it through her Unitarian Universalist church community or her Northside Neighborhood organizing group Karen was literally out in the streets making sure the voices of the disenfranchised were heard.

Karen leaves behind her husband of 52 years, Jim; her two sons: Jesse and Andy, their wives: Natalie and Muugii; and five grandchildren: Lorn, Misheel, Mars, Saraa, and Temujin.

On Saturday, October 8, 2022, at 11:00 a.m., a memorial service will be held at First Unitarian Society in Madison, WI, to celebrate Karen's life.

Arrangements under the direction of Garden City Funeral Home, Missoula, MT.