Karen Ann Mclaughlin Death, Obituary – After a valiant struggle against cancer, Karen A. McLaughlin, age 77, from Independence, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, January 27, 2019, at the Dennis & Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha, Iowa. On Friday, February 1, 2019, at twelve o’clock noon, a Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. John Catholic Church, with Father David M. Beckman serving as the celebrant. After the funeral, the burial will take place at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Independence, Iowa.
On Thursday, January 31, there will be a visitation from four in the afternoon until seven in the evening. During this time, there will be a parish vigil service at four in the afternoon and a Catholic Daughters rosary at four in the afternoon. On Friday, visitation will take place as usual at the funeral home for an additional hour before the services begin. All memorial contributions should be sent to the church. Karen Ann Vogel is the daughter of Francis Clement Vogel and Adeline Katherine (Holbach) Vogel. She was born on August 12, 1941 in Waterloo, Iowa.
Her parents’ names are Francis Clement Vogel and Adeline Katherine (Holbach) Vogel. She attended Don Bosco High School in Gilbertville, Iowa, and Humboldt Airline School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and graduated from both of those schools. She uprooted her life and relocated to New York City, New York, where she found work as a reservationist for an airline. She got married to Lewis A. Nabholz on April 15, 1961, at St. Athanasius Catholic Church in Jesup, Iowa, shortly after relocating back to her home state of Iowa.
They settled at Jesup and Independence as their permanent abodes. When she passed away on December 14, 1987, he had already passed away. In Independence, Iowa, on the first of July in 1995, she tied the knot with Loy M. McLaughlin. After leaving her job in New York, she worked as a bookkeeper for the Frost Oil Co. in Jesup, Iowa, and subsequently for the City Clerk’s office in Independence, Iowa, both of which are located in the state of Iowa.
In addition to that, she worked as a billing clerk at Independence Light & Power, Telecommunications for a significant amount of time before taking early retirement in 2003. Karen was a member of the Buchanan County Health Center Auxiliary, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court #495, the St. John Catholic Church, and the church Rosary Society, all of which she served as treasurer for. Although Karen held several different titles throughout her life, the ones that were most significant to her were those of wife, mother, and grandmother.
She had a lot of fun working in the garden and going on adventures with Loy. She devoted a great deal of her time to quilting and to taking care of her grandchildren because she cherished the time she could spend with her family. Karen is survived by her husband, Loy McLaughlin of Independence, Iowa; her three sons, Rod (Donna) Nabholz of Independence, IA, Brad (Susan) Nabholz of Sterling, AK, and Chris (Stacy) Nabholz of Brandon, IA; her daughter, Jodi (Jeff) Mace of Grand Junction, Colorado; her step-daughter, Heather (Jeremy) Crawford of Palo, Iowa; her nine grandchildren and two step-grand
Her parents and her first husband, Lewis Nabholz, as well as one sister, Marlene Wienands, one brother, Gary Vogel, and two brothers-in-law, Richard “Smokey” Youngblut and Dean Wienands, had passed away before her. She is the last surviving member of her immediate family. It is with dreadful news and a heavy heart that I have to let all members of team Karen know that our hero, Karen Ann Mclaughlin, has just died away softly holding my hand. I am sorry to say that this news has to be shared with you.
Because of this, my world is a little bit darker, and until we meet again, I will continue to adore you, my beautiful, strong, and brave wife.