Karen (Johnson) Rogers

Karen L. (Johnson) Rogers, 65 of Wakefield, Nebraska passed away peacefully in her home on Monday, September 08, 2014 after losing her battle with cancer. Funeral services for Karen will be held on Thursday, September 11, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. at Salem Lutheran Church in Wakefield; Pastor Darwin Garton will be officiating. The visitation will be held on Wednesday at the Bressler – Munderloh – Smith Funeral Home in Wakefield from 4:00 until 8:00 p.m. with a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. Burial will be in the Wakefield Cemetery in Wakefield, Nebraska. Memorials are suggested to the family for future designation. Karen was born on October 11, 1948 to Ephraim S. and Leona C. (Peters) Johnson in West Point, NE. The next spring in March of 1949, they moved to the farm 3 ½ miles northeast of Wakefield, where she grew up. She was baptized on December 12, 1948 and confirmed on April 7, 1963 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Emerson where she also sang in the church choir. She attended the Sand Creek Country School from 1st to the 8th grade, and then went to town school, where she graduated from Wakefield Public High School in May of 1966. She then attended Midland Lutheran College in Fremont for two years. After leaving college she moved to Omaha where she was employed by Mutual of Omaha for years. She was also employed by Equitable Federal in South Sioux City, NE for about ten years, then back in Omaha with Occidental Nebraska Commercial Federal and with Pentagon Federal Credit Union until retiring. During her time in Omaha she was a member of the Central Church of the Nazarene, where she was a Caravan Youth Leader. On December 9, 1994, she was united in marriage to Ronald R. Rogers at Deadwood, SD, where she and Ronnie vacationed for many years in the Black Hills. They both loved to travel, especially in the mountains. Karen loved to cook, read and make photo albums and scrap books. Most of all she enjoyed spending time with her family. After her retirement in February 2013, she moved back to Wakefield where she became a member of Salem Lutheran Church. Karen is survived by her loving husband Ronald of Wakefield, two step daughters Debbie Rogers of Council Bluffs, IA and Denise (Scott) Bowers of Mooresville, NC, and two grandsons Hayden and Logan Bowers. She is also survived by two sisters Jean Ping of Wayne, NE and Laurie (Carey) Rhods of Wakefield, NE, and one brother Gerele (Ruth) Johnson of Wakefield, NE, several nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. She was preceded in death by her daughter Lisa in 1987, her parents Ephraim and Leona Johnson, her paternal and maternal grandparents S. Erik and Emma (Backstrom) Johnson and John and Hattie (Lieber) Peters, an infant brother David and a step daughter Sandy Rogers.