Karen Leona Miller Petersen, age 84, was born Sunday January 28, 1940 at 11:52 pm at the General Hospital in St. Anthony, Idaho and Died Thursday August 31, 2023 at 11:37 am in the Memory Care Unit of Legacy House Centennial Hills in Las Vegas Nevada.  Her father was Arnold Woodruff Miller and her mother LaRue Elizabeth Erickson.  She was the first of four children (Karen, Wood , Pam, Kim) born to Wood and LaRue.

Karen's first years were spent in Parker Idaho and then Idaho Falls.  In 1947 at the age of 7 Karen, her mother and brother Wood moved to Karlsruhe Germany to join her father who was employed by the United States Army and United Nations to assist with the exchange of property following World War II.  During Karen's 84 years she lived in 12 different cites in the United States.  Traveling became one of the favorite adventures in her life.  Before returning to St. Anthony Idaho Karen traveled throughout the nations of Western and Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia.

When Karen was 8 yrs old, having been prepared by her parents and others she was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Heidelberg Germany in a Turkish bath.

Upon the families return from Germany they lived for a short time in Parker Idaho before moving to Rexburg where she lived until she graduated from Ricks College in 1960.  These years in Rexburg were very formative.  It is when Karen developed skills and talents that served as a launching pad for her success throughout life.  Karen had the ability to absorb  and retain information and in every school she attended she achieved the highest academic award given.  At graduation time she was honored to sit on the stand and deliver the valedictory address.   At Utah State University upon graduating with a BS degree in math and music, Karen was honored as the Scholar of the Year, 1961.  Later in 1972, Karen earned a MS degree from the University of Maryland in Computer Science.

Karen was attracted to the piano at an early age and in the 10th grade became the organist for the Sunday School in her ward.  She was an excellent sight reader and accompanied others  as they preformed on musical instruments and choral groups including the high school chorus. Throughout her life she was always the ward and or stake pianist and organist.

Karen met Kyle in junior high as they were students of the same piano teacher.  They married in the Idaho Falls Temple August 4, 1961 following Karen's graduation from college and Kyle's mission to New Zealand.  In addition to serving as the organist and pianist at church, Karen taught many classes and held leadership positions in the Primary, Young Women's and Relief Society.

In 1961 Karen taught math at Highland High School in Salt Lake City where to her surprise one of her students, Beth, was the youngest daughter of Elder and Sister Ezra Taft Benson.  In 1962 Karen taught at Bladensburg High School in Maryland, then worked on Capitol Hill for a congressman, Roman C. Pucinski,  from Chicago before returning to teaching for UNIVAC.  At UNIVAC Karen instructed groups from the Defense Department and she was privileged to teach at the War College in Washington DC where the students were mostly Generals and one assignment took her to Anchorage Alaska to instruct Air Force personnel .

In 1968 Kyle and Karen moved to Maryland and Karen entered graduate school at the University of Maryland.   While living in Washington DC and Maryland Karen met many elected government officials.  At the Kennedy Center in Washington DC Karen met President and Mrs. Gerald Ford and President and Sister Kimball at a concert by the Tabernacle Choir.  When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and the body of the president was placed in the Capitol Rotunda for public view, Karen stood in line for 8 hours to pay respect.

In 1976 they moved to Kansas City and Karen worked for TWA.  From 1976-1992 the family flew where TWA had flights and is when they traveled to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  At that time flight privileges extended to Karen's parents and since they were retired they enjoyed that privilege.  Karen was recognized many times for her work and was acknowledged as a top analyst in the IT department.

In1992 the Coca Cola Company ask Karen to join them in Atlanta.  Karen again rose to the top in the IT department and retired from Coca Cola in 2000.

Karen's battle with Alzheimer's began about 2008,  She had excellent medical care at Emory University in Atlanta and then in 2012 when she moved to Santa Cruz CA at Stanford University.  In 2015 she moved to Las Vegas and found excellent care at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas which deals with Alzheimer's.  In 2017 Karen had caregivers come to the home to be with her during the day.  On November 1, 2021, Karen moved into the Memory Care Unit at Legacy House Centennial Hills Las Vegas where she passed away on Thursday August 31, 2023 at 11:37 am.

Throughout her life she gave and gave and gave of her time, energy and monetarily.

She is preceded in death by her infant son, Kyle David Petersen (Aug-Nov 1963), and her parents, Arnold Woodruff Miller and LaRue Elizabeth Erickson.

She leaves behind her husband, Kyle W Petersen (Las Vegas, NV), a son, Richard Kyle Petersen (Las Vegas, NV), a grandson, Kyle Emery Petersen (Verona, WI) and her three siblings, Arnold Woodruff Miller (Provo, UT), Pamela Miller (Salt Lake City, UT) and Richard Kim Miller (Alpine, UT).

The family which to express appreciation to all the caregivers who attended Karen either at home or at the Memory Care Unit at Legacy House Centennial Hills Las Vegas and Compassion Hospice.

Service will be broadcasted at: https://my.gather.app/remember/karen-petersen-aug-2023