Karen Jane Thompson, aged 76, originally of Council Bluffs, Iowa, passed away on Saturday, March 6, 2021, at Mitchell Manor Senior Living Community in West Allis, Wisconsin after a long illness. Karen was born on July 7, 1944, in Long Beach, California, to Max and Lu Ella Thompson. She spent two years of her early childhood in the mining town of Darwin, California, which left her with many special memories. The family then moved to Forest City, Iowa, where Karen gained several life-long friends. She graduated from Forest City High School in 1962. Later, Karen attended Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa and was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority. After several years as a stay-at-home mother, Karen started her working life in the mid-1970s as an activities director for the elderly at Council Bluffs Care Center. In the early 1980s, she took a job at the local Waldenbooks bookstore, a job she thoroughly enjoyed and held for many years until her retirement. Karen loved her husband and her family and enjoyed bragging about her grandchildren. One of her greatest pleasures was having long chats with friends and family. A favorite pastime was going on car trips to see the changing colors of fall and the migration of the sandhill cranes. Karen read constantly, was smart, funny and loved to talk politics. She learned from her mother to keep an adventurous spirit and an open mind. Karen was preceded in death by her parents, and more recently her brother Paul Thompson. She is survived by her husband John Hansen, her son Bradley Harvey, husband Brad Kelly, and their three children, CeCe, Rolla and Timothy of Iowa City, Iowa; and by her daughter, Sara Staszak, husband Kevin, and their two children, Jayce and Tyler, of New Berlin, Wisconsin; sister-in-law Jennifer Hansen of Concord, California; brother-in-law Roger Hansen of Boise, Idaho; many precious nieces, nephews, and cousins; and a large number long-time friends. Karen was very proud to donate her body to Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, to further their study and understanding of progressive supranuclear palsy, the illness that carried her home. She asked that her ashes be spread over Darwin and by Lake Superior, where John and she spent their honeymoon. Per her request, there will be a celebration of life for her in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This will be held at a later time due to the pandemic.

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