Karen Harter Obituary

Karen (Stevens) HARTER November 29, 1952 -August 19, 2008 Award winning novelist, devoted wife and mother, loving daughter, sister, and friend to many, Karen went to be with her Lord Tuesday night. During her 3Â½ year battle with stage 4 cancer (in her pancreas and liver) this extrordinary woman of faith continued to serve God and to live life to it's fullest. A 1970 graduate of Shorecrest High School, Karen also attended Capenwray Bible College and Seattle Pacific University. For the past 26 years, Karen and her husband Jeff made the Skagit Valley their home (Camano Island, Stanwood & Mt. Vernon). It took 8 years for Karen to write her first novel, during the 10 years she and Jeff ran a real estate business and their own mortgage company while raising 3 sons. Her 3rd novel has yet to be published, and a fourth was in the works but "Where Mercy Flows" and "Autumn Blue" continue to thrill readers(see www.karenharter.com) Despite her cancer symptoms, Karen started each day praising God, and He gave her strength to keep going. During her illness Karen continued to teach, speak, write, do book signings, travel, fly fish, swim with sea turtles and most importantly, to reach out and minister to others. Karen served alongside her husband Jeff, as pastors of The Valley Church in Mt. Vernon, which was started 3Â½ years ago.She was a 2nd mom to countless young people, and beloved by everyone. Karen is survived by her husband, Jeff; son's Ryan, Mike and Jacob; parents, Roy & Jean Stevens; siblings, Linda (Dan) Stordahl, Don (JoAnne) Stevens and Paula (Howard) Knopf; and a host of nieces and nephews. A celebration of Karen's life will take place today, August 23rd at 2:00 p.m. at Christian Family Center, 788 N. Smith Road, Camano Island 98282. More information is available: www.thevalleychurch.com.

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Published by The Seattle Times from Aug. 23 to Aug. 24, 2008.

Memories and Condolences
for Karen Harter

7 Entries

Addie Bell-Wallace

November 25, 2008

I was so saddened on hearing that you went home to God. I for some reason thought you had much more time left. I mean your faith alone between you and Linda was guaranteed a extra 20 years! But who am I to think such things when God, who knows all things called you to be with him on August 19th. And we all know His timing is always perfect. It was you and your family who introduced me to God & Christ Jesus at the early age of seven. It's not that I never did not believe in God but after meeting your family and ALL of you were believers I knew you had something going on...something special and I wanted a taste of it and it was FREE! I can only imagine the time you are having with the Lord right now. I am honored to have met you as I know God placed you in my life. Your memory will live on forever in my heart. My thoughts to Jean and Roy Stevens who without them there would be no Karen. May God bless you abundantly. Linda, Don, Paula and not forgeting your significant others ..Hi Dan...what a joy to have a sister, friend, child in your lifetime, however cut too short for us but a lasting memory will always remain in all of our heart.....

Joan Allen

September 13, 2008

I had to add something to this guest book before it goes off line.
I think that I first got to know Karen when we were counselors together at Circle C Ranch. This was a Covenant camp in Leavenworth Wa.
Karen's camp name was "peanut butter" (P.B.),so she gave me the side kick name of Joanie Jelly or J.J..
Counseling was a wonderful spiritually stretching time.
At some point during that summer I think we decided that we should go on another kind of adventure together.The next summer was going to be the Bicentenial summer...America's 200th birthday. What better way to celebrate than to buy a special "AmeriPass" offered by the Greyhound bus company. For one bargain fee, we could have unlimited travel in the U.S. for 30 days!! We decided this would be great so we embarked on our journey. To save money as we crossed the country, we decided to sleep on the bus every other night. On the first night, the police came aboard and arrested some young man...that was just a foreshadowing of an exciting trip. We crossed the country to the east coast, traveled down to Virginia, up to her Grandma's in Nova Scotia and back to Washinton DC..We visited all kinds of places inbetween. Thankfully we had decided ahead of time that we'd fly home at the end of our trip.
There are many memorable stories. One I thought of took place off Martha's Vineyard. Since its surrouned by water, we thought it would be nice to take a little dip. One problem; we had no swimsuits. We looked at a local store and tried to think creatively...hmmm....could we tie bandanas around ourselves? No.We found no solution. Did that deter Karen? NO. She merely whipped off her top and stood in the water by the side of the road. She reasoned that no one driving by would be able to tell that she was in her bra.(Remember this was over 30 years ago so it was a little bit shocking:) I decided to take a picture to which she said emphatically: "If you take a picture I will THROW your camera in the water!!" "It's my Dad's camera" I argued. "I don't care!" I decided I'd better not capture that Kodak moment.

Karen lived up to her free and adventureous reputation. I was looking at all the slides I took and was relieving the great time we had.

More importantly, when I heard Karen had died I thought of somthing that she'd once told me. It is something that I've shared with others over the years because it was such a worthy goal.
She had said that when she got to heaven she wanted the Lord to say about her life "Not bad Karen Louise, not bad at all".
I am confident that the Lord found her to be a good and faithful servant. It is such a comfort to us all to know that she is Home and that we will see her again.

I'll close by sharing one of my favorite CS Lewis quotes:
"The Father refreshes us the journey with some pleasant inns, but He will not encourage us to mistake them for Home."
wishing you all God's peace.
with love and prayers,
Joan Edlund Allen

Debbie (Duncan) Dustan

August 26, 2008

My thoughts and prayers are with you as you grieve the loss of Karen.
Because I have been "out of the loop" for so many years I didn't even know Karen was a celebrated writer! I am eager to read her books.

I remember with fondness my growing up years at the Covenant Church and the special families that made the church memorable. The Stevens are one of those dear families and I embrace you now as you grieve. May the Lord comfort you and give you His peace.

Patty Smith Hall

August 24, 2008

I heard of Karen's passing on our writing organization's web site and wanted to pay my respects. I, along with other members of the American Christian Fiction Writers, will keep you and your family in our prayers, secure in the knowledge that Karen is dancing on streets of gold, healed by the Savior's hand.

Brandia

August 23, 2008

My name is Brandia... I am Rich's wife. I only met Karen a handful of times but she touched my heart & my life more profoundly than I can express in words. Her heart was the first thing you would notice about her, she was an exceptionally beautiful woman outside but after a few words you knew her true beauty lay inside. Her faith & attitude was amazing to me. Once I had met her & then her & Linda told me that she was sick, I was so angry, I couldn't figure how in this world that people like her could be taken from people like us who need her so badly, yet others who cause pain & suffering are all still here in perfect health. When I heard that she had went home, I cried for sorrow & anger. Then I read her son Ryan's tribute to her & talked to her sister about her last evening here & realized that my anger was a dishonor to everything she stood for & believed in. But being a human I still have to ask why, today as Rich & Norma were leaving for her service I asked him... He gave me the answer: Sometimes the good people get to go home early. There was not one day where Karen didn't make a difference to someone, somewhere, maybe some day if I try so very hard, some day I can be just a little more like her. My prayers go out to all of us in her circle of family & friends. I only hope any of us has as much strength & faith as she did. May we all live by her example.

Grace Paynter

August 23, 2008

Today I am wearing yellow. Yellow is sunshine, happiness, joy and warmth. For years yellow ribbons were worn as a sign of hope as women waited for their men to come marching home from war.

Yellow ribbons are still used to welcome home loved ones. I am wearing yellow as a symbol of Karen being welcomed home by her Heavenly Father.

I am also wearing yellow in honor of a dream; more like a daydream really, that was not realized. One lovely summer day on Lake Ketchum, Karen, Carrie and I were daydreaming about Karen appearing on Oprah to talk about her work as an author. Karen was to be on stage wearing the color tangerine. The camera then pans to Carrie and me as we're introduced as her friends. I was to wear yellow and Carrie was to be resplendent in turquoise.

We imagined ourselves as delicious dollops of sherbet, happy, fun, and fullfilled in friendship. Sadly for Oprah; she missed out on that blessing.

Our friendship meant so much to me. Her laughter, jokes, and stories were amazing. I could never replicate her timing and delivery but when I share her story about catching a fish with her bare hands it never fails to entertain and amuse my audience.

I have so many good memories of our times together but one special time that comes to mind was when we had read, "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood." We went to a website that told us our secret names. Karen was Queen Dancing Heart and Carrie was Princess Sunday Driver. Those names could not have been more appropriate. Karen loved to dance and Carrie would always be the chauffer when we went on garage sale treasure hunts.

I was dubbed with the moniker, Empress Full of Anger. I thought it was pretty right on but Karen found it unacceptable. I was renamed Jewel in Summer Stillness. I am slowly making my metamorphosis to become more like that name, thank you Karen for giving me something beautiful to grow in to. You will always be my Queen Dancing Heart.

Carrie Urling

August 23, 2008

A few more thoughts about Karen,

I met Karen in 1999 while walking my terrier, Lucky, in the Lake Ketchum neighborhood where we both lived. Jeff had recently brought home a feisty little pup, also a terrier, named Dudley. Lucky and Dudley liked to say hello to each other. This encounter would invariably pull Karen from her work, and so, our arrival on the sidewalk outside their home posed an inconvenience to her. Karen, who later told me that she had prayed for a friend in the neighborhood, didn't think I was the answer to her prayers. Later on, she liked to joke that when she would see Lucky and I come walking by she would mutter something uncharitable under her breath. Eventually God convinced her that I was, indeed, the friend he had sent her! Fortunately, our last words to each other were, "I love you".

Karen always lived her life with passion. First and foremost was her love for God. Having spent time studying at a Christian college, she could quote Bible scriptures for every occasion. She could quote more Bible scriptures than anyone else I have ever known!

Karen loved her daughter, Hayley, who preceded her to heaven, her three boys, her husband, her sisters, her brother, her nieces and nephews, her mom and dad, the rest of her family, and everyone else she came in contact with.

Karen loved her childhood and spoke with fondness of those memories.

Karen sold real estate in the days before she aligned herself with her passion for writing. Before she was a writer she painted. She was an artist with an artist's perspective.

Karen loved Orcas Island and Cabin Number One. She frequently spoke of her many happy memories there, and one of my favorite photographs of Karen and I was taken in a boat on the waters just off the shore of West Beach Resort that she framed and gave me for my birthday one year.

Karen's voice was lyrical when she spoke, and was reminiscent of a brook, or of song put into words. She also loved to sing and had a beautiful voice.

Karen had an amazing ability to laugh at the trials and tribulations of a human existence and at her own human foibles. She loved to joke, often about the type of things that most people would have a hard time joking about--for example, about the time when their house caught on fire! She and her family were standing in the yard watching from a safe distance as the firemen did their best to quell the flames. A neighbor came up to Karen and said, "You've been cooking again, haven't you?!?" Karen loved laughing.

Karen LOVED Christmas and was known to play Christmas music all year long.

Karen loved to fish, and had many happy memories of times spent on the water with Jeff, with Mike, or when growing up. Among her stories was the one about "the fish she caught with her bare hands"!

Karen almost always had a bouquet of flowers or foliage from her yard or neighborhood in a vase on her living room table.

Karen loved garage 'sailing'. She referred to this as treasure hunting. She loved chick flicks (probably because of their rarity in a household where even the dog was 'a boy'.) She loved beading and was gifted in creating earrings, necklaces, and "Baubles for your Bubbles" that were unique in their composition and color. She loved Italian pottery, and detested snakes. She loved Rasionettes. She would indulge in an occasional glass of Chardonnay.

Karen could dance in the most beautiful and exotic way--especially to music with a Latin beat.

Karen loved being a writer, and was gifted in her ability to put stories to paper.

Karen was an eternal optimist and lived each hour of each day with a grateful heart. These qualities, and her love for God, helped to sustain Karen through countless difficult days that she made seem easy.

To everyone whose heart is heavy with the human burden of losing a loved one, my prayers are for you.

Carrie