KAREN MARIE

Wasilla resident Karen Marie, 55, died at home with her husband by her side, succumbing to a long battle with metastasized breast cancer on Jan. 17, 2005.

A memorial celebration is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, at Tanaina Elementary School, 2550 N. Lucille St., Wasilla, with a reception following. Her ashes will be scattered in Oakridge, Ore., and at other international locations.

Ms. Marie was born Oct. 10, 1949, in Oregon City, Clackamas County, Ore. She graduated from Oakridge High in 1968. In 1974 she earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Portland State University.

She moved to Sitka in 1975, where she was employed as executive director with Betty Eliason Child Care Center from 1978 to 1985. During her 11 years in Sitka, she married her husband of 25 years, John Stein, in 1980. In 1985, she moved with her husband to Wasilla to work as an elementary classroom teacher for the Mat-Su Borough School District.

She was the first lady of Wasilla from 1987 to 1996, when her husband took the office of mayor in 1987. She served as a building representative of Tanaina Elementary School for the Mat-Su Education Association, was a member of the program design committee for the Youth Transitional Living Center in Wasilla and was group facilitator for Kids Are People, a student support group in Wasilla. She loved reading mystery novels, running, downhill skiing, swing dancing, international travel, cribbage and movies with meaning.

Her family wrote, "Karen Marie was a master teacher of reading. She was an insightful counselor and emotional coach. She was a fierce advocate for her family, students and school. In spite of the pain of her four-year illness, Karen loved life, lived life to the fullest and found beauty in her community of friends. She never failed to lend an empathetic ear to her family, students and friends. We are all connected. We are the stardust of God's universe."

She is survived by her husband, John C. Stein of Wasilla; sons, Jackson P. Stein of Wasilla, Reber P. Stein of Sitka, Peter W. Stein of Juneau and Morgan W. Stein and his wife, Heather, of Olympia, Wash.; mother, Genevieve Brewer of Oakridge, Ore.; brothers, Bob Brewer Jr. and Rodney Brewer of Oakridge, Ore., and Allen Brewer of Anchorage; sister, Carolyn Stuber of Portland, Ore., and grandchildren, Logan Stein of Juneau and Kaelin and Hannah Stein, both of Olympia, Wash.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that monetary donations or donations of children's books be made to Tanaina Elementary School, 2550 Lucille St., Wasilla, AK 99654. Arrangements were made by Valley Funeral Home & Crematory in Wasilla.