Karen Charlene Heimbecker 1947-2012

HEIMBECKER BOETGER KERN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/31/2012 at 22:34:12

Sioux City Journal
6 December 2012

Karen Charlene Heimbecker, 65, of Sioux City passed away Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, at a local hospital following a brief illness.

Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel, with the Rev. Alan Wicks officiating. Visitation with the family will be 6 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Karen was born on Aug. 7, 1947, in Sioux City, the daughter of Warren and Lorraine (Boetger) Kern. She attended Sioux City Public Schools.

Karen married Phillip A. Heimbecker on Jan. 21, 1966 in Sioux City. The couple later divorced. Phillip passed away on June 11, 1993. From 1965 to 1967, Karen was a nurse’s aide at St. Joseph Hospital. She received her LPN from Western Iowa Tech Community College in 1968. In 1981, she received her RN from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing and continued working in obstetrics at St. Joseph's. From 1992 to 2002, Karen worked as a resource team nurse and supervisor at Mercy Medical Center and then on 8SE post surgical unit until retiring on March 13, 2009, after 44 years.

In 1976, Karen was initiated into the Eastern Star Arlington Chapter in Moville, Iowa, and later was affiliated with the Morningside Chapter. She was a Star Point Officer and Worthy Matron in 1988. Morningside Rose Croix Chapter had benefited from her 20 years as secretary. Eastern Star was an important part of her life.

Karen is survived by two sisters and one brother, Cheryl Kern-Barglof and her husband, Dave of Spencer, Iowa, Warren "Stan" Kern Jr. and his wife, Kathy of Sioux City, and Leah Hubbard and her husband, Doug of Omaha; many nieces, nephews, and cousins; and many many great friends and co-workers.

She was preceded in death by her parents; and a brother, Richard Kern.

Honorary pallbearers will be Jerry Haupert, Craig Lorinser, Douglas Hubband, Roger Boetger, Brett Padgett, Jim Noble, Dick Miller, and Dee Noyes.