Karen Tegen

GENESEE PARK,CO - Karen Thune Tegen passed away on March 5, 2019. During her last days, she was grateful to be surrounded by her loving family. Memorial services will be 11:00 .M. Saturday July 27,2019 at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Webster. Inurnment will be in the Webster Cemetery. She was born Karen Annette Anderson, on January 30, 1949 in Sisseton, South Dakota. In her early years, she lived on a farm with her parents, Charles and Coyla (Romsaas) Anderson, and older sister, Collette. The family moved to Rapid City in 1952, where Coyla worked at the Tip Top Motel and Charles drove a city bus. After Charles died in 1957, the family returned to Webster, where Karen’s aunt Arlyce and grandparents, Martin and Christine Romsaas, were living. Karen graduated from Webster High School in 1967. Karen received her degree in art education from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. While in college, she went on an archeological dig in Israel where she discovered a goddess artifact that now resides at the University Museum in Jerusalem. She married Ronald Thune of Mitchell, South Dakota, in 1970. They had two sons, Ryan Charles, born in Vermillion, South Dakota, and Nicholas Gordon, born in Madison, Wisconsin. Karen worked as a teacher and was co-founder and president of the Northeast Wisconsin Children’s Museum. Ron passed away in 1989. Karen moved to Madison, Wisconsin, and married Peter Tegen in 1991 near Peter’s childhood home, in Germany. She received her Master’s Degree in Consumer Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Karen worked as a financial advisor for Wisconsin Education Association until she retired in 2007. Karen and Peter enjoyed their retirement visiting friends and family in all corners of Europe, exploring Hawaii, Central and South America, and spending precious time with their children and six grandchildren. In July of 2018, Karen and Peter moved to Genesee Park, Colorado, to be closer to family. She leaves behind her husband Peter Tegen; her son Ryan (Zahara) and their children Alena and Rayna; her son, Nic; her stepdaughter, Suzy (John Clasby) and their daughters Amelia and Kate; and her stepdaughter, Annie (Jonah Harrison) and their children Sophie and Max. Karen was preceded in death by Ron Thune, her sister, Collette Halford, and her parents, Charles and Coyla Anderson. She will be missed by all, including grandchildren, cousins, her niece and nephew, Alexa and Karl Halford, and family and friends in South Dakota, Wisconsin, Colorado, Germany, Norway and Switzerland. A gathering of family and friends following the service at Pereboom’s Café will begin at about 1:30 PM.