She started and went 61/2 years to Waterman, a one room school west of Gentry, MO. Karen attended the Gentry school one semester and then went to Albany R-3 School to finish grade school and high school. While attending Albany she met her future husband, Bill Smith. They dated for four plus years and were married August 22, 1970. She attended Northwest Missouri State for two years and dropped out to start a family following her husband back to the Albany area to farm.
She was a wonderful wife, homemaker, mother and teacher and when her sons were in their teens she went back to Northwest Missouri State University to obtain a double major under graduate degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood. She obtained a job at North Andrew and taught second grade for a year. The next year she taught Kindergarten which became a permanent position. After she had taught for several years she decided to go back to Northwest Missouri State University to obtain her master’s degree. She graduated Suma Cum Laude in 1998 with her master’s in Reading. She believed that if a child can read and do some math he (she) can do anything this world has to offer. She loved teaching children and told everyone that Kindergarten was the best place to be. She taught for 22 years until she retired in 2013 because of Parkinson’s Disease.
Karen was raised in the David Chapel Church of Christ and was baptized at the Worth Church of Christ, later joining the Alanthus Grove Church of Christ where she has been a member for nearly 40 years.
Those that past before her were: her parents, Granville and Mary Gregory; her in-laws: Hunter and Mary Eva Mount; and a nephew: Timothy Zook.
She is survived by her husband: Bill, of the home; sons: Doug of Denver, MO. and Shawn of Albany, MO.; grandchildren: Ryan of Albany MO,, Coltin of Denver, MO., Callie of Maryville, MO, and April of Albany, MO., sisters: Kathy Jean Zook and Mary Kay Patterson, both of St. Joseph, MO., several nephews and nieces, and many friends. She will be sadly missed by her family, friends, and former students.
Funeral Service: 10:00 AM Monday, July 8 at the Roberson-Polley Chapel, Albany with burial in the Lone Star Cemetery, Denver, Missouri. The family will receive friends 4:00 - 6:00 PM Sunday at the chapel, where friends may call anytime after 2:00 PM Sunday. Memorial Contributions: Old Brick Cemetery in care of the Roberson-Polley Chapel, 403 N. Hundley, Albany, MO 64402. Online condolences: www.robersonpolleychapel.com
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