Karen’s Story
Karen Sue Carter-Seibert was born on September 30, 1953, in Belmond, Iowa, the daughter of Ray and Carol (Groth) Kennedy. Karen grew up in Walcott, Iowa, the oldest of five siblings.
On January 27, 1972, Karen was united in marriage to Danny Russell Carter at the United Methodist Church in Ames, Iowa. To this union, five children added laughter and shenanigans: Jeremiah, Elisa, Joel, Jonathan, and Josiah.
Karen graduated from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri and was ordained with the Assemblies of God. Karen served the Church in many ways, always looking to bring the communities where she lived closer together. Harvey Assembly of God held a special spot in Karen’s heart. In 1997, Karen began her work at Pella Corporation. She worked in Human Resources and Payroll until her retirement. She developed many enduring friendships with coworkers.
Karen loved her 50 wooded acres and pond. She welcomed her kids and grandkids to enjoy adventures in nature with her. Her pride in the land showed in her landscaping and love for the flora and fauna…except the moles. There was no end to the love she had for her dogs; treasured is an understatement.
Karen was united in marriage to Dennis Seibert on May 9, 2015. The couple enjoyed traveling and gardening together. They were always laughing and enjoying each other’s company. They had many wonderful years together.
Karen passed away on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, at the Comfort House, in Pella, at the age of 71 years. She was surrounded by family, love, and prayers.
Service Details
We will be celebrating our wonderful mom, Karen Carter-Seibert on January 11th.
Location: First Church Pella - 605 Broadway St Pella, IA 50219
Visit with Family: 9am-11am
Service: 11am
Lunch: Directly following service at First Church
Burial: Family gathering at a later date.
Mom cherished loving on children and sharing God’s love to all his children. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Samaritan’s Purse, which a runs Operation Christmas Child. Please leave us a comment below if you do, so we can share our gratitude.
https://www.samaritanspurse.org
You can also make a gift by mail. Send to: Samaritan’s Purse, PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607
Farewell
Mom was transferred to Pella’s Comfort House yesterday afternoon. This morning, with family surrounding her, we said our final goodbyes to Mom. While there are plenty of words to share about our wonderful and amazing Mom, we are short on words at the moment.
Mom signed every birthday card and important note with I.A.P.O.Y. While acronym’d, this was her deep way of saying I Am Proud Of You. Mom we love you with our deepest hearts and We.A.P.O.Y. We know that you will be welcomed with open arms in heaven as you have served the Lord daily and loved so many around you.
Next Steps (12/27)
This morning we had a long conversation with Mom’s doctor. We have made the tough decision to focus on Mom’s comfort and reduce the levels of intervention. We will update further on the transition to hospice.
Thank you for all your care and prayers this week.
What we know (12/23)
This has been a long week for the family. We appreciate all the family and friends reaching out to share encouragement and prayer. Keep them coming, especially the prayer.
Here is what we know, where we are at, and what’s next.
Mom has many masses throughout her abdomen and some that are very large.
It took the doctors and lab a long time and many tests to nail down the type of cancer. As you can imagine brought a lot of stress and waiting.
Her cancer is called carcinoma.
It has not metastasized to any organs
The masses are pushing on Mom’s GI track making it difficult to consume or process food.
To make sure kidney function stays strong, nephrostomy tubes were placed in her back to allow her kidneys to drain easily.
On Thursday evening, the doctors started nutrition via IV (i.e. TPN) to help mom regain strength for the possibility of chemo.
On Friday the macular panel on the type of cancer came back and brought news that the type of cancer had a better reaction to certain types of chemo drugs than what we originally thought. And the side effects of these chemo drugs were less severe than the initially planned treatment. This was a blessing to hear on many levels.
With the coming holiday week there was lots of scheduling risk around when chemo could be started. We were initially looking at chemo starting Thursday after Christmas.
We were very blessed with Doctors getting chemo started Saturday (12/21) evening late and was 6 hour IV drip of two types of drugs.
The next five days are important. The first two shouldn’t be major side effects but days 3-5 will be very draining on mom. She will need to stay hydrated.
She will have 3 weeks before her next round of chemo.
Pray for
IV nutrition to continue to help improve strength
Nausea has been a challenge - pray for this to lessen
Mom to be able to drink Ensure for helping with nutrition
That the chemo drugs are highly effective on slowing and shrinking the tumors.
Feel free to share your encouragements and prayers in the comments. We will share with Mom when possible. As the Doctor told us, “we know strong networks and encouragement provide better outcomes.”
Mom always told us something on our way out the door in the morning. She would say “Remember whose you are.” In that statement she would mean two things. Remember you’re God’s and he loves you. And remember you’re mine. So we continue to remember “whose” mom is.
Keeping you Updated (12/20)
We now know she’s currently facing a tough battle with cancer. We wanted to share with you because we know how much love and support she has around her and we covet your prayers.
To help keep everyone updated, we’ve started this website. This will be a place to provide updates and keep everyone on the same page
We hope you’ll check in and keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for your support for Karen and Denny during this challenging time. Your support means more than we can say. ❤️