Karen Fowler . . . . .

learned to ring in the handbell group at Christ Community Church around 1994. Although the group has now disbanded, Karen and many of the original Sonoran Bell ringers came from that group. Her musical background consists of piano lessons as a child, choir in high school and college, and some small choral group singing in coffee houses during college (note to graduating high school vocalists: although coffee-house concerts are a lot of fun, and even J S Bach took advantage of them, it is unlikely you can support yourself through college thereby). She now sings in the Christ Community Church choir.

Karen lived in Tucson until she was 5, when her father was transferred to Grand Forks, AFB, North Dakota, where her family lived for "five long, very cold years" and then came home to Tucson. After high school, she attended a small Bible college in Oak Park, Illinois and received a one-year certificate in General Bible. After that it was onward to the U of A and a BS in nursing. She started out as a labor and delivery nurse at UMC, then moved to TMC L&D after 8 years. As a result, Karen is proud to have helped deliver hundreds of Tucson babies. Later, she moved to risk management and is now the Corporate Risk Manager, responsible for loss-prevention activities.

Karen has family in Tucson, Phoenix, San Diego and Forest Lakes, AZ, where she enjoys hiking in the woods and watching elk, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and ground squirrels. Her Tucson family includes an 11-year-old beagle, Allegra Regina.

Karen loves to travel and has been to Israel to visit historic biblical sites. Among Karen’s other hobbies are photography, primarily for her own enjoyment (but the cover picture from the "Simply Sonoran" CD is one of hers), crafts, and cake decorating. Regarding the last, Karen recalls making her sister’s wedding cake for an afternoon ceremony in Tucson -- in June. Surprise: the frosting melted and fell off the front of the bottom tier on the way to the church, and she had to redo the decoration. Fortunately she had taken supplies and some extra frosting to the church.

If an unanticipated event made Karen wealthy, she says she would go on a Disneyland world tour, to every Disney park around the world, and on all the Disney cruise ships, with about 200 of her family and close friends. After that, a new house would be in order.