Karen peacefully joined her loving husband Sunday, March 27, after a short battle with vascular dementia.
She was a long-time employee of Colorado State University, where she worked for the Lory Student Center and the CSU Bookstore for more than 40 years. She served as an administrative assistant to LSC director until her retirement in January 2009. She continued working for the LSC as a special project retiree until March 2020 when the pandemic began.
Karen was born October 22, 1946, in Solon, Ohio, and attended Kent State University ,where she met and married her husband, Michael McCormick. They moved from Ohio to Fort Collins in 1967 to pursue Michael’s advanced degree. Their daughter Heather was born in Fort Collins and the family was engaged in Heather’s school, sports, and music.
Karen was dedicated to serving students and loved working at CSU. She championed student’s needs with the LSC flood recovery of 1997, the remolding of the LSC in the late 2000’s and volunteering with Rams Against Hunger.
Karen enjoyed gardening, reading, exploring Fort Collins, CSU, and Colorado history, and watching the Colorado Rockies and the Denver Broncos. She was passionate about family and was a steadfast caregiver to her husband and daughter.
Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Daniel and Rosemary Martin of Solo, Ohio, and her sister and brother-in-law Dona and Bruce Laing. She is survived by her daughter Heather, her brother-in-law and sister–in-law, Jeannie and Jim McCormick, and family, nieces and nephews Joe Grant and family, Dawn Rohr and family, and Mitchell and Scott Laing and families.
There is no service to be held at this time. In lieu of flowers, Heather asks contributions can be made in Karen’s name to Rams Against Hunger at Colorado State University and the Larimer County Food Bank.
