Today we are celebrating the life of Karen Kay (Jones) Plaggemeyer. The following words were written by her daughter, Julie Olson.

Karen was born on November 20, 1939, to George and Rose (Heimbuck) Jones. She was the 6th of eight children that they raised in Pollock, SD. She would talk about doing chores on the farm and raiding the garden vegetables with her brother. Her mom, a seamstress, would say she could take measurements from a telephone pole to make Karen's clothes because she was so slim.

At five feet tall, she was a spitfire! All of her children and grandchildren would make sure they patted her on the head when they became taller than she was. She loved singing and dancing and would always try to get you to do a little jig with her just like her dad had done with her as a child.

The "12 Days of Christmas" will always be with her family as she was the only one who could reach the pitch of "5 golden rings." History was made when she sang it!

On July 28, 1955, she married Richard Plaggemeyer. If we asked her where we came from, she'd say, "the milkman," as our dad was a milkman. In 1956, they loaded up the truck and moved to the Black Hills where gold was being mined. They raised their family in Grizzly Gulch until a devastating fire took their home and changed their lives dramatically.

At 35 years old, Karen learned to drive a car. In her little Pacer, she would sit on the edge of the driver's seat so she could use both feet on the gas pedal, but when she spotted a rummage sale, she could use the brake pedal as well!

She had never worked outside of her home, but when faced with that challenge, she wasn't afraid of hard work and learning new things. She became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and enjoyed this profession for over 35 years. She was such a caring, compassionate, loving, and dedicated CNA--as all CNA's are when working with the elderly. She worked graveyard shifts so she could be home for her youngest son during the day.

Karen loved to cook! She learned by watching her mother...neither one used a recipe! You can ask her granddaughters of an experience they had when they got together to make a few coffee kuchens--more like 50 coffee kuchens! She would cook for an army! No one ever went home hungry! She was known for her potato salad--the best in the world! But guess what? She took that recipe with her, unless you were paying close attention. She would cook enough chicken, potato salad, and brownies for 5 days of camping because she was there to fish, not cook. We would not see her until it was time to go home...such patience! Her grandsons can tell you some fish tales about fishing with Grandma...she took them all fishing. She was the first one to put her pole in the water and the last one to take her pole out of the water.

Karen loved spooky movies...the spookier, the better. Halloween was her favorite holiday and she went all out on decorations. She would make a haunted house and would use dry ice for a spookier effect.

She loved her dogs and cats and once she had a chicken! She would sing this song about it to us as she did her little jig:

"I had a little chicken and he wouldn't lay an egg.

So I poured hot water up and down his leg.

And the little chicken balked and the little chicken begged.

And the gol darned chicken laid a hard-boiled egg."

In the end, our five-foot, little spitfire was taken over by dementia. No words can express how so many precious moments and memories could be erased from such a beautiful person. She said to me, "Make sure you tell them, all of them, that I can't remember their names, but I know how much I love them all.  Make sure they know."

Karen passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, at Spearfish Canyon Healthcare. .

Grateful to have shared her life are: one daughter, Julie Olson of Spearfish, SD; two sons: Danny (Ilene) Plaggemeyer of Sturgis, SD, and Justin Plaggemeyer; daughter-in-law and son-in-law: Sheri and Dan Boy of Whitewood, SD; 12 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; one brother: Roland (Sonora) Jones of Hudson, CO; one sister: Nancy Nieuwsma of Herried, SD; several nephews and nieces.

She was preceded in death by one son: Randall; her parents; two brothers: Earl and Dwight; and three sisters: Norma, June, and Carol.

Visitation will be 5:00-7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, at Kinkade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis, SD

Funeral services will be 10:00 am on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, at Kinkade Funeral Chapel in Sturgis with an Interment to follow at Bear Butte cemetery.

Click on the link to view service folder

Click on link to view service folder