Karen Diane Boll passed into the arms of Jesus peacefully with family at her side on Thursday, October 14, 2021. Karen had suffered a stroke in 2014. A round of Covid in September of this year brought on illness from which she could not recover.
Karen was born in Duluth, Minnesota, to Eleanor and Bruce Nagel. She was raised in the small town of Sacred Heart, Minnesota. As a teenager, the family moved to Pipestone, where she met and fell in love with a smooth roller skater with “a head of thick black hair, like Elvis,” she would say! She married Kenny Boll the day after she turned 18, on November 4, 1961. Two Children followed shortly thereafter; Kay 1963, then Kevin 1965.
One day in 1967, after digging the family car out of the snowbank and arriving late to work, it was decided the family would leave Minnesota behind and move to sunny California. Traversing the country in a rusted-out Chevrolet with plywood on the floor to keep the kids from falling out, the family joined Karen’s folks in the Central Coast area of California, eventually settling in Atascadero to raise their family. They remained there for 33 years.
Karen was always proud of her home and loved to entertain family and friends with her beautiful table settings for any event. One of her favorites was hosting her sorority sisters and planning their philanthropic and social events. She was active in the International Sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, forming life-long friendships with her sisters in the local Atascadero Chapter Zeta Gama Master.
She fulfilled her retirement dream building the home of her design with Kenny and living in Arizona amongst many of their Atascadero friends and retired co-workers in Surprise, AZ.
Karen has always lived as a child of God, actively involved in her church, a 33-year member of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Atascadero, and Word of Life Lutheran Church in Arizona.
The results of her stroke in 2014 left her with partial paralysis requiring additional care. So, in 2015, she returned to live near her daughter in Fall River, CA, where she enjoyed the small town joys she cherished in her youth…Like Cowboys! …the Fair, the band at the Ol’ Merc on Friday nights! The church bell ringing at United Methodist Church before worship, followed by lunch and hugs from Kathy, at Hal and Kathy’s!
Karen and Kenny Moved to Redding with their daughter Kay and her husband Bill in 2017. Her sister Nancy and husband Charlie Buck left Atascadero for Mt. Shasta and joined the family in Northern CA as well.
Karen is survived by her husband of nearly 60 years, Kenny Boll, her daughter, Kay (Bill), son Kevin (preceded in death by daughter in law Melanie), Sister Nancy (Charlie Buck), Brother Tom (Becky), Grandchildren: Benjamin, Karissa, Mariah, Cameron and Kayla, Great-grandchildren Hope and Lucy.
Memorial services November 6, 2021, at 2 pm, at United Methodist Church in Fall River. Final internment of ashes November 19, 2021, at 2 pm, at Atascadero Cemetery in Atascadero, CA.