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KAREN LOUISE LARSEN
January 27, 1937- November 19, 2011
The court reporting community has lost a friend, mentor, and a tireless champion for our profession. Karen Louise Larsen, CSR, RPR, passed away Saturday, November 19, 2011, at the age of 74. A warm and gentle soul, Karen will be sorely missed not only for her contributions to the profession, but for her kind and giving nature.
Karen was born January 27, 1937 in Palmer, Alaska. After graduating from Anchorage High School in 1955, Karen attended the University of Washington “on and off”, as she put it, from 1955 through 1962. Karen then went on to the fabled Auerswald’s Business School from 1971-73, where she began her journey toward becoming a court reporter. She finished up at the Northwest Institute of Stenographic Arts in October of 1973.
Karen began her career in October of 1973 with Donna Davis & Associates. She went on to form her own freelance agency, Larsen & Smith, Inc., with her dear friend, Sharon Smith. The firm grew to approximately 10 reporters; in June of 1996, Seattle Deposition Reporters and Larsen & Smith joined forces and enjoyed a remarkable merger of talent that continues to this very day.
Not one to sit around and let someone else steer the boat, Karen joined and volunteered for NCRA in 1974, the WCRA in 1976, the Freelance Shorthand Reporters of Washington in 1977, and STAR in 1983. She spent countless hours in service to these various organizations up to her very last days. Just last September, Karen presented an ethics class to WCRA members at the Spokane convention. As part of WCRA, Karen was Secretary from 1980-84; Vice-President from 1984-86; President Elect from 1986-88; President from 1988-90; Past President from 1990-91; Editor from 1985-87; and CSR Board Liaison from 1990-94. In 1993, WCRA presented Karen with its Distinguished Service Award. Still full of vim and vigor, Karen was the 1998 Spring Seminar Chair, and the Chair for the Court Reporters Task Force regarding contracting.
If you thought Karen only spent her time on WCRA matters, you would be amazed at the amount of work Karen did for NCRA. She was the Local Convention Chairman from 1986-87; NCSA delegate from Washington from 1986-90; served on the Nominations Committee from 1990-91; was NCSA Vice Chairman from 1992-93; was NCSA Chairman from 1993-95; served on the Ethics Committee from 1991-94, and as Chair of that committee from 1993-94. She was Director from 1995-98, and worked on CASE from 1997-2000, and as chair from 1999-2000. She also was a part of the convention planning task force, and the student seminar chair from 2000-01.
Along the way, Karen wrote several publications for our profession’s magazine, the Journal of Court Reporting. She also wrote numerous articles for WSR. Karen participated in many presentations to court reporting classes, to the UW Law School, and a WSBA CLE class on how lawyers can best work with court reporters. She also presented a CLE class on the use of realtime.
Karen held many certificates attesting to her proficiency as a court reporter: Oregon Certificate of Competency (1974); Washington Statutory Exam (1975); Registered Professional Reporter (1979) Washington CSR (1989), and three of the four parts of the RMR (1985).
Believe it or not, while undertaking all of the above, she actually spent a lot of time on many hobbies. Karen was an accomplished pianist, and loved the symphony and ballet. She was a voracious recipe hoarder and also loved to knit. Her greatest joy, of course, was her family, son Hans and his wife, Sara, and their daughters Jordan (7) and Megan (4), and son Mark and his wife, Karen, and their daughters, Caitlin (23), and Sarah (21). Karen’s sons built a stream and pond in her beloved garden, and just two weeks ago, her new deck was completed. Karen’s family feels comforted by the fact that she passed away surrounded by all of the beauty of her Brier home and garden.
Karen’s passing will also leave a great void with her Seattle Deposition Reporters family. Her warmth, humor and passion for her profession will be greatly missed.
If you have the contact information for other friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, garden club members or others that you know Karen would want to say goodbye to, please help her friends and family by forwarding this email to them with our invitation to attend. Please have them RSVP to me by email at mlarsen@anchorqea.com.
Please Join Us to Remember Karen
When: 1:30-4PM, Sunday December 18th
Where: Thornewood Castle, 8601 North Thorne Lane SW, Lakewood Washington (10 minutes south of Tacoma; on American Lake.
What to Expect: Please arrive about 1:30. After a little mingling, we’ll be sharing stories, pictures and memories of Karen’s life, beginning promptly at 2PM. So don’t be late or you’ll miss out. Between about 3 and 4 we’ll have some hors d’oeuvres and a few drinks. We’ll have some fiddlers providing some music that Karen always enjoyed. Depending on the weather, you may also wish to take a walk in the garden. Even in the cold of winter, there are a few blooms on the rose bushes.
Bring Stories and Pictures: Karen’s sons would very much like to hear your stories about their mom. Please bring stories to share, or bring your favorite pictures of Karen. If you’d like to email them to us, that’s great
Directions to the Castle:
1. Take I-5 to the Thorne Lane exit (Exit #123 ) about 10 minutes south of Tacoma.
2. Turn right (west) on Thorn Lane. Go three-tenths of a mile.
3. Turn right again on the first street to the right (Thorne Lane).
4. Immediately after turning right off Thorne Lane you will see this gate into Thornewood Estates. Drive up to the entry phone on the left.
5. If the gate is not open, Enter 016 on the key pad. We will answer and buzz the gate to open. (If you forget the code number to enter, just scroll the A-Z keys down until you see “Thornewood Castle”.
6. Enter into Thornewood Estates, follow the private road around to the 5th driveway on your right until you come to this small sign on your right (about 1 block). Turn right down this driveway.
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