Karen Simmons Erb and Thomas Owen Erb

Karen Simmons Erb (June 4, 1944 – February 4, 2016) and Thomas Owen Erb (February 18, 1945 – November 27, 2015).

Karen and Tom spent most of their lives in Lawrence Kansas, but for the past 3 years had lived in New Haven Connecticut. They passed within two months of one another with all of their children by their side. They could not live without each other.

They were parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, travelers, art collectors, athletes, health food enthusiasts, conversationalists, punsters, political junkies, NPR listeners, movie buffs, and life-long members of the Lawrence Cooperative Mercantile.

Born in Fort Wayne Indiana, they both graduated from South Side High School (Karen 1962, Tom 1963). They left to pursue their educations, Karen at Indiana University (1965) and Tom at DePauw University (1967).

Karen and Tom were together for 50 adventure-filled years.

After graduating from IU in the spring of 1965, Karen followed her dreams by joining the Peace Corps to begin her teaching career in Nigeria, West Africa.

In her first year of teaching in the Peace Corps, the Biafran Civil War broke out in Nigeria and her school was closed and became a military compound. She continued teaching in Nigeria for 8 more months, but was eventually evacuated from Benin City on an open barge within earshot of gunfire. This brought to an end Karen’s exciting and, at times, frightening 20 months as a new teacher and Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria, at the age of 23. She was not quite ready to return Stateside, and decided instead to continue her teaching experience in Spain and Portugal.

The winter of 1967 back in Fort Wayne marked the beginning of “Karen and Tom” and their 50-year love affair. At that time, Karen was living in Lisbon, Portugal and Tom was teaching middle school in Wilmette, Illinois while pursuing a Master’s degree in education at Northwestern University. Tom found Karen to be the most fascinating person he had ever met and he was eager to pursue a relationship with her. This was made difficult by the fact that she soon returned to her European adventure, and he to teaching.

Tom spent the next 50 years of his life trying to keep up with Karen! In the summer of 1969, he traveled to Europe to pursue this fascinating woman. He convinced her to return to the U.S. and during the summer of 1970 they took a 2 ½ month, 14-thousand-mile road trip around North America in a Dodge Corvair convertible. During that trip, Tom proposed to Karen. She said she would think about it. In her mind, she had more adventures to pursue prior to settling down. In the meantime, she moved to San Francisco to live with her sister and best friend Mary Ann, study art and theatre, and consider Tom’s proposal. Apparently, she realized that life with Tom would be it’s own adventure, and a year later, they were married on September 3, 1971. After teaching middle school for two more years in the states, they accepted teaching jobs in an international school in Luanda, Angola, West Africa in 1973. They taught in Luanda during the dying days of the Portuguese colonial empire, while traveling extensively in Africa.

In 1974 they returned to the United States to attend graduate school at the University of Florida. It was here where their family started to grow with Christopher being born in 1975 and Gregory in 1976. After four years in Florida, Tom received his Ph.D. in curriculum theory while studying with two prominent professors of middle school education and Karen received her Master’s in African studies. Then, after twenty-six rejection letters, the University of Kansas offered Tom the job of building its newly approved middle school education program. So, after six years living in the tropics and subtropics, they moved back to the Midwest to Lawrence Kansas in 1978, with Chris (3) and Greg (1 ½). Over the next 34 years of living in Lawrence, both their careers and their family grew.

Tom moved up the ranks of the professorate at KU while Karen became an instructor in the Applied English Center teaching English as a Second Language to international students. During Tom’s teaching/research career, he co-authored 5 books on middle school curriculum and interdisciplinary team teaching, contributed 17 book chapters, and supervised the dissertations of 17 doctoral students. Through the years, his educational consultancies took him to 23 states and over 90 school districts and educational agencies. While at KU, Tom founded the Journal of the Kansas Association for Middle Level Education (KAMLE), which he edited for 8 years. In 1994 he assumed the editorship of the Middle School Journal for the National Middle School Association (NMSA), which kept him in touch with what was going on in middle school education throughout the United States and internationally for the next 15 years. In June 2005 Tom went on emeritus status at the University of Kansas and subsequently held two distinguished professorships at his Alma Mater, DePauw University, retiring from the Boswell Professorship in 2010, at the same time Karen retired.

Upon their arrival to Lawrence in 1978, Karen earned a second master’s degree, this time in Teaching English as a Second Language. While studying for this degree, she taught as a graduate assistant at the Applied English Center (AEC), which would become her teaching home for the next 30 years until retiring to join Tom at DePauw in 2009. During her career teaching at KU, Karen twice took the opportunity to teach English in Asolo, Italy. Karen finished her teaching career working with international students at DePauw University in 2010.

As their careers expanded, so did their family. Brian was born in 1982. After three boys, Karen decided to take biology into her own hands and guarantee herself a daughter. The Erb Family adopted Emily in 1989 after two years working with the American and Mexican consulates to secure the necessary paperwork (Thanks to Senator Bob Dole!). They made several trips to visit Emily during her first two years living with a foster family outside Cuernavaca, and Karen even took Spanish lessons at KU so she could be the spokesperson for the family on those trips. Their family was complete—almost. In 1994 Karen and Tom became foster parents for Reggie Harrison during his senior year in high school. They also had two exchange students over the years, and those students’ families have remained life-long friends: Eduardo Molina from Ecuador and Eric Uribe from Mexico.

After several years focused on raising her family, Karen told Tom that when she turned 50, she was going to start traveling again. Many of those trips were connected to international study, Peace Corps service, or weddings of their children, nieces and nephews. They visited Christopher during his time in Ecuador, Spain, and Costa Rica, and Chris’ wife Kim during her Peace Corps service in Belize. They traveled with Brian to Uganda during his study abroad experience. The whole family visited Mexico many times over the years to visit Emily’s birthplace, once even to meet her birth mother near Cuernavaca. Since Karen’s Peace Corps work and Tom’s study abroad in the 1960s, they lived in or visited 60 countries abroad. All told, in addition to Canada, they visited 20 European countries, 7 in Central & South America, 22 in Africa, and 8 in Asia. Their international travel and the wonderful memories it provided was a great source of pleasure for Karen and Tom for many years.

In retirement, they learned that Karen had Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), an atypical Parkinsonian disorder. In 2012, they moved from their family home of 30 years near downtown Lawrence to New Haven, Connecticut to live with Christopher’s family, including two of their grandchildren. In 2015, Emily also moved to New Haven to help care for Karen.
Karen and Tom are survived by their loving family, including: Christopher Thomas and his wife Kimberly and their children Madeleine Deone (8) and Emerson Luciano (5); Gregory Marcus and his wife Vikki and their children, Isaiah Chance Gregory (17), Gwen (12) and Griffin (10); Brian Benjamin and his wife Lauren and their three daughters Olivia Karen (2), Addison Quinn (3.5 months), and Jacqueline Roe (3.5 months); and Emily Renee and her Alaskan Husky, Max.

Those who knew Karen and Tom know that they could strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere. They taught us that people don’t care if you speak their language well. They will be warm and welcoming as soon as we take a moment to try and communicate. PSP took away Karen’s voice, but it could never take away her talent for connecting to people.

PSP was devastating to both Karen and Tom. In a way, however, it was also purifying. Tom was completely dedicated to and focused on caring for his soul mate. As she lost her ability to care for herself, Karen remained determined, compassionate, and focused on others. She was pure love.

Visitation Services are scheduled from 11am to 1pm on Sunday February 7, 2016 at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home at 601 Indiana Street in Lawrence.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the following causes that were important to Karen and Tom.

The Karen S. Erb or the Thomas O. Erb Endowed Scholarship at KU.

The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE ) Foundation in Columbus Ohio.

The Parkinson’s Research and Advocacy Organization CurePSP.org

Messages & Condolences

From Lauren Briere...

I am both terribly sad to hear that this wonderful, inspiring woman is gone and relieved to know that that her suffering has ended. I hope that she and Tom are off having wonderful adventures together.

From Candy Davis...

I was so sad to hear about Karen and Tom Erb. Such stellar individuals! They both were accomplished professionals and wonderful parents. So many children in Lawrence, grown ups now, will remember swimming classes with Karen. Think of all those young lives she helped with water safety. The world was a better place with Karen and Tom. My sincere sympathy to their family. Candy Davis (Wertzberger)

From Cheryl Harrod...

I met the Erbs in the early 90s through KU. Tom and I had much in common with our middle school teaching experiences and through him I met Karen with her radiant smile and infectious laugh. Their joie d’vivre was always apparent. Although no longer in our physical presence, Tom and Karen leave us with happy memories and the fabulous legacy of their children who will continue the Erb adventuresome spirit and celebration for life!

From Lydia Neu...

I am sooooo sorry for your loss! Your folks were amazing… I got to know them so well..beginning with the rehab of Greg’s back and then the teaching of the kids in our pool at the clinic. I then go the opportunity to work with your Dad…. I am so sorry but the thought that they are together is amazing… They were/are amazing! My thoughts and prayers are with you!

Lydia Neu

From Sharon Condon...

I worked collaboratively with Karen on an International Exchange Program between some of her AEC students and our Haskell Intercultural Communication students. We traveled together to Italy to speak at an international conference about this collaboration, and had a fabulous time. She was such a caring, fun, lively, spirited woman and I’m glad I had the opportunity to know her. My condolences to her family.

From Jean Rosenthal...

I am so so sorry for your loss. Karen was a mentor and friend and such a fabulous colleague at the AEC. I treasure memories of both Tom and Karen.

From Margie Coggins...

Chris, Greg, Brian, and Emily,
Karen and Tom were such an important part of this community and the lives of the countless people they knew. I feel privileged to be among them. They will be missed.

I am deeply sorry to have missed the opportunity to give you my condolences personally.
Thinking of you.

From Johannah Cox...

Chris, Greg, Brian and Emily,
I’m so sorry about your loss of both your Mom and Dad.
Their combined obituary in the paper this morning resounded with the following themes: They loved each other very much, they followed their sense of adventure and they left their mark on every community they were a part of. I’m so glad I got a chance to know them during their time in Lawrence.
Please know that the Erb family is in my thoughts and prayers at this sad time.

From George Crawford...

Please accept my deep sympathy on the loss of Karen and Tom. It was a blessing and privilege to have Tom as a colleague and to be acquainted with Karen. I will miss knowing they’re “around”.
I’m sorry, to, that other obligations will keep me from sharing my sympathy directly. Peace.

From Steve Hazel and Mary Dees...

We are thinking of all of you, sending you love while keeping you in our hearts. May it bring you some comfort to know that so many people care and share your loss.
Fondly, Mary and Steve

From Nan Renbarger...

I have many fond memories of Karen.She was always so friendly and engaging. My sincere condolences to the family.

From Joy Lominska...

We are thinking of the family and all the many ways our paths crossed through the years. Karen was such a lively, intelligent person and will remain so in our memories. Our condolences to all.

From Ginger Bartley Wilkins...

To the Erb and Bash families: Karen and Tom
touched so many lives and will continue to impact generations to come through each of you. Cherishing the many special memories with you. Blessings,

Messages are closed.