Karen Sue Sweeney was called to Heaven on August 10, 2023.  She was born to Lowell and Elsie (Rider) Kreider on June 23, 1945 in Chanute, Kansas.

Karen was a woman of firsts right from the beginning.  She was exemplary in school including being the winner of the Regional Science fair and Elks academic scholarship.  She moved on to the University of Kansas following in the footsteps of her two sisters, Geralle and Jaqulin, all of whom were Gamma Phi Beta.  She met her one-day husband, Miles Sweeney, as he was carrying in her luggage to the Freshman Women's Dorm.

Karen & Miles were married as they graduated KU, and Miles went into the Army.  Karen went with him to Fort Eustis, Virginia and later to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  On each occasion she taught school in the area as a substitute teacher.

When Miles went to Vietnam, Karen moved back to Lawrence, Kansas to work on her masters and became Assistant Dean of Women.  When Miles returned and started law school, she continued to climb the ladder in the Deans office.  She became head of both Freshman Women's Dorms and later became responsible for larger facilities and programming at the school.

Karen and Miles moved to Springfield, Missouri where Miles took his first job at a law firm and Karen became counsellor at St. Agnes High School and then hired on at Drury University as Dean of Women.  She progressed to Dean of Students and then along with Judy Thompson, the first of two women Vice Presidents of Drury.  She served in that role as Vice President of Student Services and Church Relations until the last few years of her career, when she served as first Vice President of the whole university.

After one year of retirement, she took on the role of Head of School at Summit Preparatory School.  During her tenure she arranged the move of the school from a leasing facility to a permanent home in Chesterfield Village.  She also directed the school to North Central Accreditation and was told it was the fastest accreditation of any high school in the history of the organization.

Her accomplishments in community service are certainly some of the most extensive of Springfield history.  They include, but are not limited to, Day of Caring with Roseanne Bentley and she was the first President of the Junior League who was full-time employed.  In that capacity she helped to create Leadership Springfield.  She then went on with David Geisler who together created the rape crisis center that later turned into the Missouri Victims Center.

She was the first chairman of the board for Habitat of Humanity and helped created the Affordable Housing Action Board.  She was president of SMMA, which is the Springfield Art Museum facility, Board member for the Springfield Symphony, and president of United Way.

On the topic of religion, she was the first woman elder at National Avenue Christian Church and served on the national board of the United Church of Christ.

Memorial services will be held at Stone Chapel, Drury University campus on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at 2:00 PM under the care of Gorman Scharpf Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations go to The Victim Center, 815 W. Tampa Street, Springfield, Missouri 65802.