Rockwell City – Karen K. Casey 81, passed away Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at the Paula J. Baber Hospice Home, Fort Dodge.  A Public Visitation will be 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Saturday, October 21, 2023 at the Palmer & Swank Funeral Home, Rockwell City.  A Private Family Burial will be Sunday at Rosehill Cemetery, Rockwell City.  Memorials may be left to the discretion of the family.

     Karen is survived by her daughters, Trisha (Bryce) Sellers of Sandia, TX; Shonda (Keith) Tranel of Aredale, and Tanya (Chris) Johnson of Grand Forks, ND; grandchildren, Jordan Bourque, Carma Johnson, Kooper Tranel, and Anderson Johnson; sister Earlene Frisbie of Carroll; brother Clifford (Robin) Olson Jr. of Winslow, AR; her beloved cat Lily; and other relatives and friends.  She was preceded in death by her husband Dennis; parents, Clifford and Irene (Pfannkuch) Olson; father and mother-in-law, Gerald and Carma (Borchert) Casey; brother-in-law Jerry Frisbie; sister-in-law Cheryl Olson.

     Karen Kay Olson was born May 21, 1942 to Clifford Sr. and Irene (Pfannkuch) Olson, in Carroll, Iowa.  Karen grew up on a farm in Crawford and Sac Counties with her sister Earlene “Auntie Ernie” and brother Cliff Jr. “Uncle Bimbo” and their cherished family dog Rags.  This is where Karen grew to love being outside and helping her Dad on the farm.  Karen was also on the Wall Lake Comets girls basketball team, making it to the post season in the 1950’s.  She was a member and officer of 4H, learning to hon in on her cooking, canning, refinishing furniture and sewing skills, and earning blue ribbons in all.  Karen was an awesome cook a talent she learned from her mother everything from Thanksgiving dinner to desserts.  The best of which were her chocolate chip cookies, dump cakes, and her special angel food cakes that she made for all of our birthdays.  Karen’s love for the outdoors and farming grew even more once she married Dennis Casey on July 28, 1968.  They lived west of Rockwell City for several years before moving to our family acreage south of Rockwell City.  This is where the three girls grew up learning to love farm life and to cook from the best.  Karen was an avid bowler, winning many pins and accolades.  One of Karen and Denny’s hobbies was horses.  Some of their favorite times were spent helping John Roby and family with their Belgians and traveling to state fairs in the Midwest.  Karen worked several part time jobs and also farmed with her husband.  The couple moved into town in 1997.  Karen worked as the manager of Amvets and was the treasurer of Amvets Auxiliary.  Her last job before retiring was working as a cook at the Elementary School in Rockwell City.  She loved this job and seeing the kids come through the line, especially her granddaughters, Jordan and Carma.  During retirement, Karen loved tending to her yardwork, flower and vegetable gardens.  Karen’s true loves were her grandkids.  They were the light of her life and she loved them dearly. 

     In 2021, Karen was diagnosed with uterine cancer.  She had been battling this disease for 2 ½ years.  The Karen Casey Family wishes to thank Fort Dodge Oncology Services, Dr. Tofilon and the whole team for the exceptional care.  They would also like to thank the kind and loving staff at the Paula J. Baber Hospice Home.