Karen Elaine (Vote) Harshbarger

Karen Elaine (Vote) Harshbarger passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 81 on July

12, 2024 in Springfield, Ore.

Karen was born to Elaine (Kelly) Vote and Clayson “Jack” Vote on April 5, 1943 at Putnam

County Hospital in Greencastle.

Karen was the youngest of four children who grew up and attended school in Greencastle. While in high school, she met a handsome basketball player named Bill Harshbarger who attended a rival high school. They became high-school sweethearts, and a few years after graduating high school, they were married on December 21, 1962.

They left Indiana for Cornell University in New York so Bill could pursue his education with Karen working multiple jobs to support the two of them. In the following years, they created a family, and Karen and Bill had three children: Mikell, Amy, and Thomas.

In those early years, the family moved around quite a bit, living in a number of places in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey before relocating to the west coast. They lived in Beaverton, Ore., for a few years, and then moved the family once more to San Jose, Calif.

Once all of their children had left the nest, Karen and Bill had the good fortune of being able to travel and see the world. Bill’s career required them to move across the Pacific for five years where they resided in Tokyo and Fujisawa in Japan. During this time and the years that followed, they became world travelers together, seeing the sights and enjoying the food in many places throughout Europe and Asia.

After the kids were grown, Karen developed and practiced her cooking, painting and sewing skills, and she became a skilled quilt maker. She also loved reading mysteries and watching science fiction movies.

Once Bill retired, they designed and moved to their dream home in the north Oregon coast town of Neahkahnie. Karen and Bill lived there until Bill passed away in 2018. Karen spent her final years living with family in Eugene, Ore.

Karen was preceded in death by her husband Bill and her older brother David. She is survived by her sister, Nancy, her brother, Marion, and sister-in-law Barbara as well as her three children and three grandchildren.

The interment of her ashes at Brick Chapel Cemetery and a memorial service for her will be held in Greencastle in the fall.

Karen loved dogs and the television programming on Oregon Public Broadcasting, so in lieu of flowers, she would want you to make a donation in her name to your local animal shelter and/or your local public television station.