Karen Marie McDonald, 45
Karen Marie McDonald, age 45 of Nashua, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020, at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, at Assumption Parish, Little Turkey, with the Rev. Nick Radloff celebrating the Mass.
Interment will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Little Turkey.
Friends may greet the family from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home and Crematory in New Hampton. Visitation will continue from 9 to 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Face coverings are mandatory and visitation will be a rolling visitation with 15 people at a time in attendance.
Online condolences for Karen’s family may be left at hugebackfuneralhome.com.
Karen Marie McDonald was born on Oct. 10, 1975, to Richard and Marlene (Novak) Tieskotter. She grew up on a farm north of Lawler and attended New Hampton Community Schools. In high school, she sang in the choir and played for the Chickasaw girls basketball team before graduating in 1994.
One of her best, if not the best, memories from high school came on Jan. 8, 1993, when she was set up on a blind date with Christian McDonald. The date was set up by Chris’ former girlfriend, who turned out to be a perfect matchmaker because Karen and Chris remained entrusted to each other for almost 28 years.
They exchanged wedding vows on June 8, 1996, at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Little Turkey.
Karen earned an associate of arts degree from North Iowa Area Community College and then transferred to Wartburg College, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in public relations.
She and Chris lived in Mason City after they were married and then moved to Shell Rock, Waverly, Nashua, and Cresco before settling in Nashua. In 2001, they welcomed their first child, a son named Zachary. Caitlyn was born in 2004 and Calista arrived in 2007 to complete the family.
Karen loved being a mom; in fact, she was simply an amazing one who would do anything and everything for her children. She was the family organizer, and yes, she had a little OCD in her, but that always kept Chris, Zachary, Caitlyn and Calista on the right track.
Karen owned her own business, McDonald Integrated Photography and Graphic Design, and she had an eye for snapping the perfect picture at just the right time. For the past seven years, she has worked in the Marketing Department at Zip’s AW Direct in New Hampton, and her fellow employees are going to miss her talent and her kindness.
She loved taking unique photographs and nagging Chris from time to time, but in all seriousness, ask her family about her hobbies and they will tell you that any activity that meant she could spend time with her husband and kids was when Karen was at her very best and happiest.
Karen was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church in Nashua, although she always considered her church home to be Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was the church she grew up in, she married the love of her life and always returned to every August for the church’s annual summer picnic.
She spent the last days of her life with her family, which was only fitting, and we know Chris, Zachary, Caitlyn, and Calista — along with the rest of her family, her co-workers at Zip’s, her friends and the scores of those she touched with her photographs — are going through a very difficult time. They are comforted by the fact that her faith means she’s spreading her artistic and creative talents throughout Heaven today.
Survivors include her husband, Christian; three children, Zachary McDonald, Caitlyn McDonald and Calista McDonald; her mother, Marlene Tieskotter, all of Nashua; her in-laws, Roger and Sharon McDonald of Mason City; brother, Charles (Andrea) Tieskotter of Rochester, Minnesota; brothers-in-law, Darrell McDonald of Indianola and Jason (Sue) McDonald of Charles City; and nieces and nephews, Serafeane Tieskotter, Julius Tieskotter, Alekzander Tieskotter, Devan (Sara) McDonald, Josh McDonald, Kyndra McDonald, Annabelle McDonald and Jaxon McDonald.
She was preceded in death by her father, Richard Tieskotter; and her sister, Christine Tieskotter in infancy.
