Karen Lee Canada

Karen Lee Canada, 62, of Norman, OK passed away Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at her home. Karen, the youngest of seven sisters, was born August 20, 1959 in Casa Grande, AZ to Charles Eugene and Nina Florence Newell. She lived on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona until she was 13, then moved with her family to Fort Gibson, OK, where she graduated from high school in 1977.  She was a cheerleader and athlete who played three sports - basketball, volleyball and softball. She continued to play competitive softball for several years after high school on teams composed largely of her sisters. Karen married after high school, but after a painful divorce she found herself the single mother of two little boys.

In 1979 she obtained an Accounting Certification and took a position as Head Cashier for a large department store. After only a short time on the job, she was promoted to Office Manager, establishing a pattern that repeated itself in nearly every job she took; i.e., rapid advancement into management after having been hired for another position.

In 1982 Karen resigned her Office Manager position to continue her formal education, pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. Her education was interrupted in 1984 when she suffered a sports related back injury that required surgery and a months-long hospitalization to treat a life-threatening infection. There is some suspicion that this infection may have been responsible for the general weakening of her joints, causing her to have a multitude of injuries and surgeries over the next several years and eventually forcing her to give up sports altogether. This was a real disappointment for she dearly loved to play softball with her sisters and other family members.

However, there was a silver lining behind this dark cloud! Karen’s sister Pam asked her recently widowed minister, Dick Canada of Fort Gibson Church of Christ, to pay a visit to her little sister Karen, who was currently hospitalized for treatment of her injured back. He did, and, as they say, the rest is history. The relationship that budded on that very first visit in February 1985 blossomed into marriage just two months later on May 3, 1985. Karen and Dick began their married lives together in Fort Gibson before moving in August 1985 to Norman, OK, where they made their permanent home.

Karen, tagged “Caring Karen” by her sisters, was a people person whose sympathetic and compassionate style served her extremely well in management positions. After the move to Norman, she held office management positions for several firms, including Dr. Barney Blue’s Family Physicians (1987 to 1994), and later for her church from 2000 to 2007. Afterward, she found her style was perfectly suited to the building of a successful Arbonne business in which she enjoyed helping other women to also become successful. Karen fully retired in 2016.

Karen was a devoted Christian from her teen years and an involved member of Alameda Church of Christ for 36 years. For several years she served as the chair for the ladies annual fall retreats and was a long-time member of and hostess for Alameda LIFE groups where she made lifelong friendships. Like her Savior, she had a heart for giving of herself, touching the lives of everyone around her, making them feel a part of her “chosen family” as she called it. She was a mentor and a “mom” to many. She enjoyed teaching children’s bible classes and working in the nursery, especially when her grandchildren were young and likely to be in attendance. She was active in sharing her faith and was steadfast in her belief in the full and perfect healing awaiting her in heaven.

The thing in life that Karen enjoyed most was being Karebear, the name by which everyone inside or outside her family knew her. If it had a dictionary definition, it would surely be “a grandmother who has unexcelled devotion to her grandchildren.” She loved being a grandmother, and she got lots of opportunities to show it, being blessed with 14 grandkids whom she loved with all her heart. Her annual Kamp Karebear is legendary among her friends and family as a time when all the grandkids went to Karebear’s house for a week of summer fun. Saturday nights were Karebear’s weekly time with the grandkids. She would make sure they were all fed (usually at Ci Ci’s Pizza), bathed, dressed and somewhat on time for bible class on Sunday mornings. Her goal was to never miss any of her grandkids’ school, sports or church activities, and she would have attended all of them if that had been possible. Celebrating birthdays and having the family together for the holidays were among her greatest joys because they were opportunities for her to speak to them in her love language, gift giving.

Knowing that about her, one shouldn’t be surprised to learn that when she received her cancer diagnosis in April 2019 with its devastating prognosis that her first concern was not for herself but for the family she would leave behind. She wept over the sadness they would feel when she was gone. So, that little five-foot-two and tough-as-nails gal from “Fort Gibson, America” decided that she was going to “fight like a girl” to extend her life beyond the predicted one year and wring as much quality of life as she could out of whatever time she was allotted.

She did just that! She lived two-and-a-half years, and in that time she survived a pandemic, traveled to California and Colorado, celebrated every family member’s birthday not once but twice, saw grandchildren graduate from schools and begin careers, marry and establish homes. On borrowed time she celebrated the 2020 holidays and almost made it to Thanksgiving last year. The price for that extra time was steep: 35 trips to Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center; three major surgeries; and extensive cancer drug treatment (five rounds of chemotherapy, four rounds of immunotherapy and eleven months of targeted therapy). Because of the treatment’s side effects, her oncologist called a halt in late October, despite her protests. To the end, she tenaciously held on to life, wishing with all her heart to live to see every one of her grandchildren grow up and have families of their own. Despite the life extension she received from treatment, still she’s gone way too early.

Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Nina Newell; sister Linda Golightly; brother Charles “Chip” Newell, Jr.; nephews David Austin and Caleb Minor.

She is survived by her husband, Dick; by three sons, Rick Canada and wife Stacy, Adam Clinkenbeard and wife Brandy, and Jared Clinkenbeard; by one daughter, Susan Kight and husband Sean; by five sisters, Sharon Austin, Paula Summers, Hope Hedrick and husband Gene, Phyllis Yazzi and husband Michael, and Pam Bradley and husband Charles; and by her sister-in-law Judy Canada; and by brother-in-law Mike Canada and wife Anne.

Karen is also survived by her 14 grandchildren, individually the lights of her life: Sadie Morgan and husband Dylan; Kylie Gunzelman and husband Nick; PFC Amy Risser; Brody Canada; Raylie, Sallie and Lanie Kight; Karleigh, Sam, Anna, Ben and Will Clinkenbeard; and Isis and Sebastian Clinkenbeard.

She is also survived by 27 nieces and nephews and many great-nieces and great-nephews.

All who knew Karen loved her.

A celebration of life will be held April, 8, 2022 at 2:00pm at Alameda Church Of Christ in Norman.