Karen L. Caldwell

Ocean Park resident Karen L. Caldwell, 59, died of cancer in Portland, Oregon on January 22, 2010. The daughter of Tom and Betty (Hull) Gallo, she was born June 25, 1950 in Tacoma, Washington. Her father's family were Italian immigrants and her mother's family had came west across the Plains in a covered wagon. Karen attended school in Tacoma and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1968. While in high school she participated in Rainbow. Following graduation she joined an accounting program at National Bank of Commerce. Later she worked in banking as a teller and loan officer. For the past eight years she was employed at Willapa Counseling in Long Beach as accounting supervisor. While living in the Puget Sound area Karen was a member of the Seattle Mountaineers and enjoyed snow skiing. Having visited the Peninsula with family since she was five years old, Karen realized her dream of living locally when she purchased a cabin in Ocean Park in 1991, moving permanently there in 2002. Karen loved collecting lighthouse models, walking the beach, watching winter storms, boating on the Columbia River and cruising Pacific coast ports with family and friends. In past years she had attended St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Tacoma. She and Dennis Caldwell were married January 9, 1971 in Tacoma. He survives residing in Ocean Park. Also surviving are a daughter Lisa Nehman of Long Beach; son Tyler Caldwell of Ocean Park; brother Tom Gallo of Tacoma; sisters Antoinette Tenorio of Napa, CA and Mary Director of Phoenix, AZ; numerous nieces and nephews also survive as do other members of her extended family. A celebration of her life will be held Saturday, February 13, 2010, 2 PM at the Peninsula Baptist Church in Ocean Park with a potluck buffet following. Memorials are requested to the American Cancer Society. Her guestbook is available at www.penttilaschapel.com.