Karen Dorothy (Cohen) Porter died peacefully at home on Sept. 26.
Karen was born on Feb. 8, 1939, in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Jack and Rachael Cohen. She attended Colfax Elementary School and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School.
At just 18 years old, she was exceptionally organized, highly skilled at taking shorthand and could type 80 words a minute, which led to a job that she loved: executive secretary for the president of a large insurance company in Pittsburgh.
In 1959, she went on a blind date with Edward Porter, and on Oct. 2, 1959, at just 19 and 21 years old, they were married.
Karen loved to play canasta and was a proud Lion of Judah through the Jewish Federation of Kansas City.
Karen never met or saw a baby that she didn't fawn over, but none so much as her beloved grandchildren: Rachel and Lindsay Gill, Sophia and Joseph Porter, and Alec and Jaden Hill.
Karen is also survived by her husband, Ed; her children, Debra (Porter) Gill (George) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, David Porter (Carol) of Leawood, Kansas, and Barbra (Porter) Hill (Ron) of Leawood; and her sister, Lois (Cohen) Zwibel (Barry) of Pittsburgh. She was preceded in death by her sister, Charlotte (Cohen) Grossman, of Boca Raton, Florida.
The family held private graveside services.
Donations may be made to kcpaws.org or the The J's Child Development Center (CDC).
Online condolences for the family may be left at louismemorialchapel.com.
