Karen K. Parker, 77, of Ontario, founder of the County Line newspaper, died April 1, 2024, at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse.
Karen was publisher and later publisher emeritus of the County Line newspaper for 40 years. She documented life in the area through thousands of news and feature stories. She was known for her weekly Backtalk columns, which were at times personal but also opinionated, casting a critical eye on issues both local and national.
Karen Kay Kundert was born Jan. 25, 1947, in Monroe, Wis., to Edwin and Ethel (Lichtenwalner) Kundert. At age 9, Karen was taken in by Alfred and Gretta Goepfert of Monroe, who raised her as their own daughter.
Karen graduated from Monroe High School in 1965. She attended Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., earning a degree in sociology in 1971. During college, she served for a year as a VISTA volunteer, working as a social worker in New Jersey.
At Elmhurst College, she met Thomas Parker, whom she married on June 28, 1968, in Chicago. They celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary last year.
Living in the city never suited Karen. In 1975, Karen and Tom purchased a country place near Ontario. In her Backtalk columns, she often wrote about life at “Burdock Acres.”
“Our place will never grace the cover of a country living magazine,” she wrote in a 2016 column, “but it is a comforting retreat from people fatigue and the everyday stress that life hands us in basket loads. A good tramp through the woods with the dog does more to restore the soul than all of the drugs at Walgreens or all of the booze at the bar.”
Karen started the County Line newspaper in November 1983. Her coverage area included Ontario and Norwalk and later expanded to Kendall and Wilton.
“If anyone had told me in 1983 that 40 years later, this enterprise would still exist, I would have assumed they were smoking the weed,” she wrote for the newspaper’s 40th anniversary in November 2023.
Karen worked tirelessly for decades, never missing her Tuesday deadlines. She joked that if you were to die on a Tuesday, you better not fall over until Wednesday. She was active in the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, served on its board of directors, and won many WNA writing and reporting awards. She worked part time up until her death.
“I would be adrift without the facets I love about this business: telling other people’s stories, pulling back the veil on scandalous government behavior, and promoting causes that help others and the community,” she wrote for the County Line’s 30th anniversary in 2013.
Endlessly curious and a self-proclaimed “nosy” person, she loved to talk to people.
“I think of all the homes I have been in during the last 24 years where people have shared their stories with me and sometimes trusted me with their deepest secrets,” she wrote at the start of the newspaper’s 25th year in 2007. “Not to put a too sentimental point on it, but I am eternally glad to be part of these communities. Moving here might actually have been the smartest thing I ever did, even though it is not an easy place to live at times, or an easy place to make a living.”
Karen wrote several local history books. She was driven to preserve these stories and immersed herself in extensive research and interviewing. Her titles include Always the River: A Sesquicentennial History of Ontario, Wisconsin, 1857-2007; Indomitable Pluck: One Railroad, Three Tunnels and America’s First Rails-to-Trails Bike Path; and All Under One Roof: A Brief History of the Ontario Community Hall 1938-2018.
Another labor of love was spearheading the rejuvenation of Palen Park in Ontario. She raised thousands in donations and grants for new playground equipment, interpretive signs, and trees and flowers.
Always a social worker, Karen cared for strays of all sorts, both children in need of love and those with four legs — she never met a cat that wasn’t immediately smitten with her.
She was proud of her Swiss heritage, tracing her ancestry on a trip to Switzerland in 1998. The elaborate flower displays she saw there inspired her, and for years afterward she enjoyed working in her flower gardens at home.
Karen was a chocoholic and was famous for her desserts, especially her Kahlua cheesecake. An avid newshound, she followed national politics, even if it spiked her blood pressure. She loved words and was always down for a game of Scrabble.
Karen is survived by her husband, Thomas, and her daughters, Sarah Parker of Ontario and Megan (Troy) Espe of Stevens Point, Wis.
She is further survived by her sister, Marian Lichtenwalner (Alvin Whitaker) of Waterloo, Wis., and her brothers, Harley, Keith (Linda), and Kenneth (Donna) Kundert, all of Monroe, Wis., and Donald Kundert of North Little Rock, Ark. Additional survivors include her sisters-in-law, Marguerite Kundert, Kathy Andres, and Linda Parker, as well as many nieces and nephews.
Karen was preceded in death by her daughter, Elizabeth Anne, who died at age 2 in 1979; her biological parents; her adoptive parents, Alfred and Gretta; her parents-in-law, Vincent and Floragene Parker; her brother, Gary Kundert; and her sisters-in-law, Carolyn “Sis” Kundert and Mary Kundert.
Private services will be held at a later date. The Torkelson Funeral Home of Ontario is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences are available at www.torkelsonfuneralhome.com.
“Along the way, I came to know wonderful and wise people, sometimes funny and neurotic, always with a story to tell,” Karen wrote in 2016. “Sadly, too many of them have gone to their final reward, but I miss them every day and wish I could share again in their wit and wisdom.”
