Karen Patricia Smaby

About Karen

The community has lost a wonderful, generous teacher.

Karen Patricia Smaby, 63, Grand Marais, a woman of exceptional character, died peacefully, gazing at the woods outside her window, on Monday, August 24, 2020, at Northshore Hospital, after a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer.

She was born October 3, 1956, in Helena, Montana, and grew up in Iron Mountain, Michigan. She attended Winona State University in Winona, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree. In college, she made deep friendships that continue today.

Karen moved to Cascade Mountain on Pike Lake Road in 1984 where she partnered in a maple syrup operation and planting, nurturing and selling Christmas trees.

She was a charter member of the Northwoods Fiber Guild, whose members will miss her wise counsel, her impressive bookmaking skills, and her generous spirit.

For many years, Karen spearheaded the Senior Book Project at Cook County High School, where she shepherded graduating seniors through the art of bookmaking to create their own unique yearbooks.

She was a beloved instructor at North House Folk School and the Grand Marais Art Colony. Karen was an instrumental co-conspirator in "Yarnstorming" Grand Marais for Fishermens’s Picnics and Winterer’s Gatherings.

We’ll miss her strong, quiet presence; her outstanding teaching ability; her wit; her kindness; and the delicious picnics she prepared for the maple sap crew.

Karen is survived by her husband, her mother and stepfather, her five brothers and their partners, several nieces and nephews, and many devoted friends.

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because dawn has come. Rabindranath Tagore