A memorial service will be held July 21 at Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home in Jefferson for Karen Voge-Perkins, 82, of Jefferson. Karen died July 18, 2022, in Jefferson.
David Goin will offer words of comfort. Nicole Friess-Schilling will be soloist, accompanied by Sheryl Sloan. Honorary bearers will be her grandchildren Erich Tucker, Dylan Tucker, Jim Siegel, Andy Siegel, Thomas Siegel, Christopher Siegel, Megan Scholl, Kate Rivera, Nick Revera, Chris Perkins and Kelly Acob.
Interment will be at the Holstein Cemetery in Holstein.
Karen Janet Voge was born on the Sand Hill Farm north of Galva on July 14, 1940. She was welcomed by her loving parents, Geneva and Walter, as the first, and only, daughter. Older brothers Billy and Chesty welcomed her. She was followed by brothers Allen, Pat, Dennis, and baby Paul.
Karen Voge was a precocious child; she was sent on the school bus with her two older brothers at the age of 4 to start first grade at a local country school. In second grade she began attending Galva elementary school. By 16 she was a graduate, and the valedictorian of her 1957 class. In high school she was band majorette, a saxophone player, and a member of the basketball team. She was editor of the yearbook and newspaper, a chorus member, and an avid thespian. In her spare time she enjoyed babysitting neighborhood kids, where she occasionally glimpsed a television set. (She always enjoyed babysitting for people with televisions.) In summers she took many 4-H projects to the State Fair, where she earned ribbons and accolades for everything from raising chicks to executing parliamentary procedure. At an early age, Karen was a list maker, a rule follower, and an award winner. Those qualities persisted as she excelled in everything from school to 4-H, and as an adult from parenting through her numerous careers.
At 17 she started at the University of Iowa. Like a lot of women of her era, she chose marriage early. By 19, she was married to Jack Rush, the father of her three daughters. She worked many jobs and supported Jack through his masters degree in psychology in Iowa City. Eventually the family settled in Jefferson where Jack had a permanent job. This is where she chose to remain and raise her girls, even after she and Jack divorced.
A homemaker when the kids were young, Karen started to work outside the home after her youngest daughter, Penny, started school. Karen had a keen mathematical mind and an outrageous short-hand ability. With these skills she worked at the pink school, Brenton State Bank, and finally Home State Bank. She was praised for her precision and exceptional work ethic.
Her precision and exacting mind led her to take to the skies about 1970. For her 30th birthday, Jack gave her flying lessons, and she was soon soaring above the fields of Greene County. Her family celebrated her solo and her bravery.
Karen was extremely active in the Jefferson community. Civic duty was important to Karen, and her daughters remember accompanying her to the voting booth, and being very disappointed to have to stay out of the curtained voting box, because her votes were private! She was an active member of the League of Women Voters. Education was paramount to her. Karen led by example and was a member of the Jefferson school board at a time of transition, making bold changes that were necessary and overdue. She let few of her regrets be known, but one was that she had not finished her own higher education. It was expected that all three girls would earn their degrees, and she was so proud as Vicki finished law school at the University of Iowa, Jennifer became a teacher with a degree from Iowa, and Penny a registered nurse with a degree from Mount Mercy.
With her children out of high school, in 1984 Karen spread her wings and moved to Des Moines to further her banking career. From there she and her partner, Carroll Perkins, left for Riverside, CA, where she worked with Carroll building homes, and worked for both the city and the county of Riverside. Carroll and Karen formally married on Nov. 12, 2007.
During the years of 1984 – 2016, Carroll and Karen traveled to many countries, at first visiting Carroll’s sons Timothy in France and Finland, and Dan in Mexico, but soon finding their own paths. They were known as light travelers, and each carried one bag. They would travel by train, bus, or any local transit they could find. They were brave and bold; as East Germany opened, they were there. When Russia was accessible, they traveled to St. Petersburg, Karen’s personal favorite trip. There is a sensational story of her dancing all night with a Russian general, who could not resist choosing Karen as his only dance partner. Carroll stood down as the general and Karen swept the floor. Germany, Greece, Spain, Guatemala, Czechoslovakia, France, Finland, Russia, Italy…there were many trips. Karen had an encyclopedic memory, and she could recount meals, train trips, and people they befriended with exceptional detail.
When international travel became harder to navigate, Karen and Carroll took to the American roads and visited friends and relatives in warmer winter climates. They drove the red Ford and Karen navigated at first with Thompson road guides, and later with her iPhone. They never took a direct route, but always the byways. Before cell phones, this was the cause for some concern among family members, but they loved their privacy and their secret excursions.
Karen and Carroll returned to Iowa around 2007. Karen was never good at being idle, so she jumped into community activities. She worked for Greene County Development Corporation for a number of years. She was also active in the Why Not Us movement to bring the Tea Room back to its glory. In her spare time she was an avid bridge player and a secret poet. She read widely and was always aware of the national and international developments, in light of her many travels and her deep social consciousness. She was a supporter of women’s rights, LGBTQ issues, and the plights of the poor and under represented.
The last three years of Carroll’s life, Karen devoted herself to his care. Carroll relied upon her expertise in everything from farming to pharmaceuticals. She was beside him as his health declined, managing his illnesses, maintaining his appointments, and running the household. It was never easy, but she did not waver in her devotion to him. Karen was nothing, if not devoted. She was steadfast in her determination to ease Carroll’s path to death in March of 2022.
Karen was quiet and affable. She was level headed, logical, methodical, and present. She listened and reflected, and offered advice if asked, but more often she allowed her daughters and friends to use her as a sounding board. She offered hope. She saw your strengths. She never chided or scolded or berated. She will be remembered by her family as the best roast maker. Her encyclopedic knowledge of so many things will rest with her. The community will miss her organizational talents. Friends will miss her wit and wisdom. Family will miss her guidance in all things from finance to fashion. Grandkids will miss the roasts and her generous and accepting love.
Memorials in loving memory of Karen are suggested to the children’s department of the Jefferson public library. Survivors include daughters Vicki Rush, Jennifer (Scott) Rivera, and Penny (Jeff) Scholl; step-children David (Melody) Perkins, Timothy Perkins, Mary Ellen Perkins (Gary Soreide), and Jane Healy; brother Pat (Anne) Voge; sisters-in-law Macy Blythe, Lois Voge, Jyl Voge, Teresa Darlene Rankel, and Virginia Perkins; brother-in-law Jerry (Carol Ann) Perkins; grandchildren; other relatives and friends.
