Karen (Ivie ) Adams Obituary
Karen June (Ivie) Adams born May 5, 1944 passed away comfortably in her own home on June 24, 2022 in Springfield, Missouri at the age of 78 due to surgical complications.
Karen June (Ivie) Adams was born in the West Nebraska Methodist Hospital in Scottsbluff, Nebraska to Lieutenant Armand Lewis Ivie and June La Vaughn (Jones) Ivie. Karen moved to Memphis, Missouri at the age of 7 joining the home of her Uncle and Aunt, Judge Birney O. Reeves and Mrs. Lois Reeves, until graduating from high school. Her maternal grandfather,
Dr. Howard Oswald Jones of Omaha, Nebraska, also maintained a significant ongoing role in her upbringing.
During her years in Memphis, Karen was baptized and a member of the Memphis United Methodist Church. Karen enjoyed reminiscing about her upbringing in the small rural community of Memphis where she worked alongside her Aunt at the family’s local Dairy Queen and during high school played both point and occasional guard on the basketball team. Also during high school and continuing into her early college years, Karen was a member of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls.
After graduating in 1962 from Memphis High School, she attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. While pursuing her bachelor’s degree, Karen was united in marriage with William Stuart Adams, also of Memphis, Missouri. Karen transferred to the University of Missouri, Columbia for her last two years and graduated receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in education with a minor in art. Then life moved forward, and she began teaching 3rd Grade for the public school district in nearby Harrisburg, Missouri. The subjects she most enjoyed teaching were reading, writing, spelling and speaking.
Karen and Bill had two children, Sonya Beth and Rachel Lynn. In 1974, the family moved from Columbia, Missouri to La Plata, Missouri, and Karen was a busy wife, mother and lovely homemaker. When the girls were older, Karen worked as a front desk receptionist at area hospitals, and then she became a dental assistant employed as the office manager in the
La Plata Dental Clinic of Dr. A.S. Barber, DDS, and she continued working in his area clinics for 12-15 years.
Karen and Bill divorced in 1992, but remained friends throughout the years, and Karen relocated to Springfield, Missouri. She was employed in Springfield initially as an employment agency recruiter for 12 years, and then during her last 17 years, as an insurance records management and retention specialist for both individual and commercial accounts at a local insurance brokerage.
Karen loved to smile and laugh. Her smile was beautiful, and her laugh was unique and infectious, easily identifiable in a crowd. She loved to swing dance, decorate her home and work in her yard. She enjoyed attending auctions and exploring flea markets, as well as operating her own booth. And, Karen was very artistic. Her favorite color was orange, and she had a wonderful flair for making her home bright, beautiful and unique.
Sonya, her eldest daughter, has also lived in Springfield and been by her side daily as a daughter and best friend for the last 30 years. Karen has 3 grandchildren: Nate, Katie and Delaney Richardson from the marriage of Rachel and her husband, Jim Richardson, all residing in Macon, Missouri. Karen was preceded in death by her father, aunt, grandfather, uncle and mother in that order.
A private intimate gathering will be held in the near future to honor Karen’s life at the Springfield Botanical Gardens in the Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park.
Memorials in her name can be contributed to THE PEACE THROUGH PEOPLE PAVILION.
SEND TO:
Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park and Botanical Gardens
2400 S. Scenic Avenue
Springfield, MO 65807
(417)891-1515
