KAREN S. KAHL

Karen Kahl, 75, of DeKalb, IL passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Karen was born on February 3, 1949 to loving parents Ralph and Catherine Woodard (nee Gette) in Aurora, IL.

Karen grew up in Aurora, IL and attended local schools, eventually graduating from West Aurora High School, class of 1967.  After graduating from high school she attended Waubonsee Community College where she earned her associate’s degree in accounting.  Karen met the love of her life and future husband at Top’s Big Boy in 1966 while out with her friends, and the rest was history.  Karen went home that night and told her mother she met the man she was going to marry.  Karen knew it was meant to be from the get go and her intuition proved to be spot on when they married on May 18, 1968 at St. Peter’s Church in Aurora, IL.  After Karen and Denny married, they moved into their first home on Second St. in Elburn, IL.  It was while living in this house they would welcome their three children.  After a few years of raising their children in Elburn, the family packed up and moved to the heart of Maple Park where they watched their children grow and thrive. It was important to Karen that she be there for her children during their formative years, so she stopped working and stayed home to raise her children until her youngest, Tiffany, was in school full time.  Karen’s children have fond memories of the time they spent with their mother during those early years.  Karen and Denny were content in Maple Park, and they stayed there for 26 years.  After the kids were grown, Karen and Denny decided that their house was too much house for just the two of them, so they packed up their life and headed not too far away to DeKalb where Karen had lived for the past 20 years.  Karen proudly worked for the special education district of DeKalb County doing their accounting for 14 years before leaving there and doing accounting for the DeKalb County Government from which she retired in 2014.

Although Karen worked many years in accounting, the job that kept her busiest was as a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She always looked forward to family vacations.  One of the best trips Karen took with her family was to Washington D.C. in the family’s Ford Van with the pop-up camper in tow.  Karen was at her best when she was travelling.  Getting away from the day-to-day grind gave her a sense of freedom.  Karen was in her element on the beach with her toes in the sand or hiking on a trail. Karen could always be found with her nose in a book.  She could spend hours sitting in her favorite chair getting lost in the chapters of her newest story.  She was amazing at embroidery and loved to make embroidered quilts for babies. She loved her grandchildren fiercely and loved to watch them any opportunity she could.  It didn’t matter what they were doing as long as they were together as a family.  Karen was a loving, orderly, but easy going, woman, with a zest for life that you don’t find often.  She will be missed dearly by all who had the great honor of getting to know her.

Karen leaves behind her loving husband of 56 years, Denny Kahl, her three children; Grant(Cynthia) Kahl, Brandon(Dana) Kahl, and Tiffany(Lori Angstadt) Kahl, her four grandchildren; Trevor (Bri) Kahl, Kailyn Kahl, Brock (Madison Lamberti) Kahl, Brooke Kahl, her three great grandchildren Leo, Rylee, and Hollis, and a whole family of friends.

She is reunited with her parents, Ralph and Catherine Woodard and her brother, LaVern Woodard.

A visitation will be held on Saturday, July 13, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Conley Funeral Home in Elburn, IL. A memorial service will immediately follow the visitation at 1:00 p.m. also at Conley Funeral Home. 

A memorial has been established in Karen’s name to benefit “The Camp to Belong”: Checks may be made to the “The Camp to Belong” and mailed in care of P.O. Box 66, Elburn, 60119. Tributes may also be forwarded to the same address, the Conley Funeral Home Facebook Page, or at www.conleycare.com.