Karen Lee Cline Benton of Denver, Colo. and recently, Statesville, N.C., passed away Jan. 21, 2018. The cause of death was pneumonia with complications from cancer.
Karen was born on Feb. 15,1948 in Baltimore, Md. She was the eldest daughter of William Edwin Cline and Rosalie Rae Nichols Cline who both predeceased her. Siblings include Christine Shepard (David), Penelope Shepard (Steve), William Edwin Cline Jr, Elizabeth Given (John), Melanie Ryan (Patrick), and Jennifer Cline (Venice Sidwell). Karen married Wm. Robert Benton on May 9,1970 in Frederica Del.
She graduated from Felton High School in 1966, and was Valedictorian of her class. She attended Delaware State University from 1966 to 1968 and graduated from the University of Delaware in1970 with a B.A. in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
Karen learned to read at a young age and consumed books like someone who eats potato chips. Her home was filled with hundreds of books and her Amazon Kindle account held over 2,700 ebooks. She especially loved science fiction and murder mysteries. One of Karen's most cherished books and a touchstone for her life was "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling. She memorized the Law of the Jungle poem from the book when she was a little girl and could recite it when asked. Karen loved elephants almost more than anything else. Her home was filled with all manner of elephant stuff, from pictures, to statues, to coffee mugs.
Like her father, she loved jazz and blues music. One of her favorite bands was Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women.
Karen was a knitter and accumulated a large yarn stash over the years eventually filling a whole bedroom. While traveling she was always on the lookout for new knit shop to find some exotic fiber and a new knitting pattern.
She had many different jobs in her career from programing IBM mainframe computers, to running statistics on large data sets, and to coordinating The Lung Health Study at the University of Utah. Her last job was as a wealth management consultant for the financial firm, TIAA-CREF.
She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008. She began treatment that year in the Cancer Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver. She received various treatments over the next 10 years including participating in two clinical cancer drug trials that extended her life and helped to find better ways to fight the disease. Her oncologist, Dr Paul Bunn, through his expertise, support, and wry humor inspired her to always take the next step.
She is survived by her husband Robert, two amazing sons, Nathan and Patrick, and two extraordinary daughters-in-law, Michelle and JoAnna. Karen's two grandchildren, Anna Grace and Finnegan James filled her heart to overflowing. Her cats, Adora and Tonks, will miss snuggling with her. Karen was predeceased by her niece Elizabeth Ann Shepard.
Internment was on Jan. 26, 2018 in the Sudlersville Cemetery in Maryland.
"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, but only saps today of its strength." A. J. Cronin
In Karen's memory, please make a donation to:
The Elephant Sanctuary
PO Box 393
Hohenwald, TN 38462
https://www.elephants.com
(931) 796-6500