Janet Karen Sandaas
Karen Sandaas died on February 6,
2013 while vacationing with her husband Richard in Baja California, Mexico. She was 67.
Karen was born in Seattle and grew up in Burien, later relocating with her family to the San Francisco Bay area. She graduated from Carlmont High School in Belmont, California and from the College of San Mateo with an AA degree in 1965.
After graduation she joined United Airlines, embarking on a 38 year career as a flight attendant. This followed a family legacy, her father and uncle were captains for United, her mother a stewardess-nurse, and her sister a flight attendant.
She enjoyed traveling, having visited all seven continents as well as much of the US. She loved observing wildlife and in later years developed knowledge of bird and animal species. She also enjoyed boating with her husband and friends and visited many great places, extending north to the end of Vancouver Island.
Upon her marriage to Richard in 1974 they moved to their present home in the Denny Park area north of Kirkland. She enjoyed this idyllic spot and described one of her favorite activities as "nesting" with a good book overlooking Lake Washington.
And more than anything she loved her family.
She is survived by her husband Richard; sister Tari Abbott, Beaverton, Oregon; stepdaughter Kirstin Sandaas, Bellevue; stepson Leif Sandaas, Burbank, California; grandchildren Jensen and Beckett Sandaas, Burbank, California; and nieces Kindra Peltomaa and Aubrie DeClerck, Portland, Oregon.
Contributions can be made in her name to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society or to the Humane Society for Seattle/King County..
A celebration of her life is being planned.
Published in The Seattle Times from February 13 to February 14, 2013
