- Date Of Birth: January 4, 1943
- Date Of Death: April 19, 2022
- State: Indiana
Mrs. Karen Sue McKibbin, 79, of Elkhart, was surrounded by her family as she was peacefully called on to her heavenly home on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 11:36 am at Elkhart General Hospital following an illness. She was born in Elkhart on January 4, 1943 to the late Vernor J. and Nina C. (Prugh) Kenyon. She married Gerald L. “Jerry” McKibbin in 1960 in Elkhart. He and Karen were childhood sweethearts and remained inseparable until his passing in June of 2010.
Surviving Karen are her daughters Cindy (Tim) Forester of Bristol and Nancy (Doug) Kessler of Niles, MI; her son Michael “Mike” (Carolyn) McKibbin, also of Niles; 6 grandchildren, 2 step-grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren and a whole bunch of extended family, friends and acquaintances who loved Karen and will miss her presence in their lives.
Karen spent over 40 years at Miles Labs (Bayer) in Elkhart and couldn’t help but make life-long friends there. Additionally, she spent many years at the Northside Church of the Nazarene and also volunteered at Elkhart General Hospital in the Mammography Department. But for all of the hustle and bustle in Karen’s life, nothing gave her peace and the feeling of love like her family did.
She loved her children dearly, and the grands even more so; and she, as she enjoyed spending time with everyone whenever she could. She definitely made it a point to attend the vast majority of their athletic events since she was a bit of a sports fanatic herself. She was a loyal fan of the ladies’ Fighting Irish, especially their basketball team, and was a season ticket holder which allowed her to witness Muffet McGraw’s championship team playing in real life.
Finally, it should be mentioned that Karen’s smiling face was able to light up a room, and her wit and sense of humor easily endeared her to many people. Happy, pleasant and cheerful, Karen had an insatiable love for life and did what she could to lighten the burden of others.
