Everett Emery Karsten, 09 Feb 1921 – 20 Apr 2012

KARSTEN, NEWKIRK, BERG

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 5/15/2012 at 16:27:52

A celebration of life service for Everett E. Karsten, 91, Napa, Calif., formerly of Homestead, will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Napa. He died peacefully April 20, 2012, with his family at his side after a long and full life.

Memorials may be made to St. John’s Lutheran Church mission and ministry at Mision de Jesus, Napa Valley Hospice or the Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Treadway and Wigger Funeral Chapel, Napa, is in charge of arrangements.

Private committal with military honors was held at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, Calif., April 26.

Everett Emery Karsten was born Feb. 9, 1921, in Iowa, the son of John Emery and Lenore Anna Matilda (Newkirk) Karsten. He was raised on a farm near Homestead and was confirmed in Oxford in 1935. In 1943, he graduated as an electrical engineer from the University of Iowa and in October of that year, was enrolled in a training course with Allis Chalmers, Milwaukee, Wis. Shortly after, he was drafted in the Navy and served from May 1944 to June 1946.

Upon discharge, he returned to Allis Chalmers as an induction motor designer until he was hired by Aramco Oil Company in 1947. This began his career affiliated with the oil industry overseas in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Aruba and domestically in San Francisco, Calif.; New York, N.Y., and Benicia, Calif.

He retired in 1983 and was quoted as saying “I worked harder in retirement than I did during my career but I did the work when I wanted.”

He was a man of great faith, serving wherever he lived and setting a good example with integrity, kindness and humor.

He was active at Grace Lutheran Church, San Mateo, Calif.; St. John’s Lutheran and Faith Lutheran churches in Napa; Lutheran Care for the Aging and Redwood Lutheran Convalescent Hospital.
He also served as member and president of the board of directors of Clinic Ole and was a member emeritus of IEEE. He always could be called upon to “fix” or repurpose anything broken.

Many thanks go to his loving caregivers, Cathy and Janet, and the wonderful support of his doctors, Dr. Rony Kako, Dr. Umutyan, Dr. Wong, Dr. Freeto and Dr. Schlatter, and most certainly, Vickie, Jackie and Eric, of NV Hospice.

Karsten is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Ruth; his daughter, Mary-Anne Karsten, Napa; cousins, Harlan, Jan, Lucy, Betty and Loren; nephews and nieces, Dennis, David, Deanne, Allison and Cara, and their spouses, and various grandnephews and grandnieces.

He was preceded in death by an infant son, John Everett Karsten; his parents; one sister Luella Berg and brother-in-law, Elwood Berg; brother, Dale Karsten and nephew, Dale Karsten Jr.

The Williamsburg Journal Tribune 10 May 2012, pg 9