Karen Kay Ament (née Searl) ended her battle with Alzheimer’s disease on July 2, 2021 in St. Louis, MO, where she was residing at Allegro Senior Living to be near her youngest son, Andy. .

She is survived by three sons (Scott, Brad and Andy) and two grandchildren (Zach and Danielle) and she was predeceased by her parents (Doc and Viola Searl) and her sister (Sue Krepel).

Karen was born on June 29, 1944 in Beatrice, Nebraska. There she grew up on 17th Street, attended East Elementary School, and graduated from Beatrice High School in 1962. She was studying journalism at the University of Nebraska when she married James Ament in 1963. They had two sons – Jon Scott (1964) and Bradley Alan (1966).

The family moved to Bloomington, IL in 1970 for James’ work with State Farm Insurance. Karen has worked as a housewife, tax preparer, freelance writer, writer for McKnight Publishing and associate editor for Accent on Living Magazine.

She returned to school in 1982 at Illinois State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1986 with a major in English and a minor in journalism. She also received Honors from the Mortar Board Society and was a Bone Fellow. She also gave birth to her third son, Andy, in 1983.

She divorced in 1986 and started working at State Farm Insurance in 1987 as editor of employee news magazine, then safety specialist and finally employee benefits assistant, retiring in 2004.