Karen Garber Dickinson passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 18, 2017 in Olympia,
Washington.
Karen was born in Sheridan, Wyoming on May 4, 1940, to Cecil and Sheila Benson Garber of
Big Horn, Wyoming. She attended schools in Big Horn, was active in 4-H, and graduated from
Big Horn High School in 1958. She graduated from Sheridan College in 1960 and attended the
University of Wyoming.
On August 27, 1960 she married Richard L. (Dick) Dickinson in Sheridan. They had two
children, Scott of Penryn, California and Andrea Dickinson Cass, of DuPont, Washington. Karen
spent her early married life as a Navy wife, living in San Diego, California and Charleston, South
Carolina, where son Scott was born. In 1965 the family moved to Laramie, and then to Tempe,
Arizona. Daughter Andrea was born in the neighboring city of Mesa. In 1969, following her
husband’s completion of post-graduate education, the family moved to Carmichael, California, a
suburb of Sacramento. Karen and her husband returned to Sheridan in 2013.
Karen spent her early years in the Sacramento raising her children, driving them to their
childhood activities, volunteering at the local school, and actively participating in school
activities, and the parent-teacher organization. She had a penchant for adopting abandoned
animals that Andrea was prone to discover. One of her least favorite activities, on three
occasions, was taking Scott to have a broken arm repaired. Karen was a marvelous bridge
player and teacher. She also had a passion for color mixing and painting. Her art work and
skills produced a large number of landscapes which she liberally gave to her children and
friends. Her later years were spent with her husband and friends plying the Sacramento River
and San Francisco Bay Area waterways on board the motor yacht, CrossWinds. Boating later
gave way to RV life with winters spent along the Colorado River in the Lake Havasu and Parker
areas of Arizona.
She is survived by her husband Dick, son Scott and daughter-in-law Qiu-Mei; daughter Andrea
and husband Greg, and grandchildren Maxwell and Piper; sisters Linda Garber Townsend of
Colusa, California and Nicki Garber Stewart of Fairbanks, Alaska; and several nieces and
nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents.
Karen will be interred in the Elks Cemetery in Sheridan at 10:00 am on Wednesday, August 16,
2017. Following the cemetery service, Karen’s family invites friends of Karen and the family to a
reception at The Barn in Big Horn, 228 Johnson Street, in Big Horn, Wyoming.
Online condolences may be written at www.kanefuneral.com.
Kane Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.
