Karen Ogdahl Obituary Karen Ruth Ogdahl passed away at Harmony House memory care nursing home in Brainerd, MN on December 8, 2024, at the age of 78. Karen was born March 28, 1946 in Tracy, MN to Theodora and Victor Clark. The family later moved to Brooten, MN where Victor was superintendent of schools and Theodora was a teacher. Karen graduated as the salutatorian of Brooten High School in 1964 and went on to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. In 1968, she graduated with degrees in English and French and married Bob Ogdahl. The couple lived in Fridley, MN and Killeen, TX during Bobs army service at Fort Hood and in Vietnam. While Bob was in Vietnam, Karen moved back to Minnesota where she lived in South St. Paul and taught school in St. Paul Park, MN before the couple finally settled in Brainerd in 1974. In the years that followed they welcomed two children, Nathan and Megan. Karen worked as a teacher in Brainerd for 30 years, teaching 8th and 9th grade English at Washington, Franklin, and Mississippi Horizons before retiring in 2004. As a teacher she was known for her love for her students and her calm and unphased demeanor in the face of teenage hormones. To her fellow teachers she was a dependable colleague and friend, always striving to learn and improve in her profession. While teaching she earned her masters degree from the University of St. Thomas. She was a mentor to many student teachers and helped set the districts English curriculum. The friendships she made through teaching were like a second family. Karen was an active church member at First Congregational United Church of Christ for 50 years where she sang in the choir, organized the childrens Christmas program, led the childrens choir, served as the church clerk, sat on the Christian Ministry and Education Committees, belonged to the book club, knitted prayer shawls, played in the bell choir, made countless bars and meals for many events as part of the cooking group, played piano, was on the search committee for the new pastor, and acted as a confirmation mentor. Besides her dedication to her church, she was an active volunteer in the community, teaching writing through the Behind the Bricks program at the Crow Wing County Jail, making meals at the Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen, volunteering at the WeARE clinic, writing articles for local publications, playing the piano in the memory care unit at Bethany Good Samaritan nursing home, and volunteering for the Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project. Above all, Karen was known for her love for her family and friends. She showed this love through time spent with others, meals prepared and shared, and a smile, hug, or listening ear freely given to all. She so enjoyed spending time with Bob, Nate, and Meg as her own kids grew and then, in more recent years, with her grandchildren, Willa and Frankie. Karen, Willa, and Frankie all shared a love for reading and books, a strong glue that bonded them together. Karen also had a vast network of friends that included her college roommates, games group, lunch bunch when she was still teaching, golf group, birthday club, her retired teachers coffee hour, and the weekly Perch Lake dinner crew. She was an expert host for get-togethers, dinner parties, holidays, birthday parties, and cookouts. When she wasnt spending time with friends, she was reading, doing the New York Times crossword puzzle, playing the piano, enjoying the music of the Lakes Area Music Festival, gardening, or knitting. Karen is survived by Bob, her husband of 56 years, son Nathan Ogdahl (Carroll Beauvais), daughter Megan Ogdahl (Jason Westrum), two grandchildren Willa Beauvais Ogdahl and Frankie Beauvais Ogdahl, brother Paul Clark (Terri), brother-in-law Jerry Ogdahl, sister-in-law Lesley Hoplin (Mark), brother-in-law Tom Ogdahl (Tammy), and many beloved nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. Karen is preceded in death by her parents Theodora and Victor Clark, parents-in-law Eleanor and Lester Ogdahl, sister-in-law Mary Jean Ogdahl, and grandson Moses Beauvais Ogdahl. Please join the family in remembering Karen on Friday, December 20, 2024 at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 415 Juniper St., Brainerd, MN 56401. A visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m., and a service will be at 11:00 a.m. Luncheon to follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity or the Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen during this holiday season, in memory of Karen who shared her home and table with others in love, friendship, and in service. The link for Habitat for Humanity is https://lakesareahabitat.org/ The link for Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen is https://www.sharingbread.com/donations