Karen Gordon 1943-2023

Karen Sue Gordon, 80, of Denison, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, at The University of Kansas St. Francis Hospital in Topeka.

Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7 at the Shelley Family Funeral Home of Winfield. Committal with military honors will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 8 at the Kansas Veterans’ Cemetery of Winfield. No visitation is scheduled. Memorial contributions for Karen may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project; donations may be left in the care of the funeral home. 

Karen was born on Jan. 22, 1943, in Tulsa, Okla., to parents Rollin Leroy Champlin and Virginia Maxine (Hall) Champlin. In 1964 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Stormont-Vail School of Nursing and started working as a registered nurse, a career she held for more than 50 years. Karen worked for 32 years at the VA hospital in Topeka, in the ICU. She later worked at F.W. Huston Medical Center in Winchester, the Horton hospital and most recently as a home health nurse.

Karen was a proud member of the U.S. Army for more than 24 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2003. Karen proudly served in Operation Desert Storm as a member of Topeka’s 410th Evac Unit.

She was married to Dean Gordon in November 1990; he preceded her in death in July 2005. Karen was passionate about raising Longhorns with her husband, attending devos with a local Bible study and demonstrating the love of God to friends, family and her community. She loved the color purple and above all loved her family. 

Surviving to honor her in memory are her daughter Sylvia S. (Kenneth Wade) Skinner of Dublin, Calif.; grandchildren Cody J. (Katelyn) Fund of Seattle, Wash., Kegan L. (Claire) Skinner of Cincinnati, Ohio and Elise A. Skinner of Searcy, Ark.; and numerous extended family members and friends. Karen is preceded in death by her parents, husband and brother, Rollin Gene Champlin.

(PAID OBITUARY)