To the Hilarides family - Today I thought of Karen, looked for her and was saddened to find her obituary. I worked with Karen in treasury at Transamerica Corp. in San Francisco in the 1990s. She was a wonderful coworker, always ready to chat and laugh. (She was also very bright and good at her job, but I remember better the fun parts.) I thoroughly enjoyed being with her. I remember how she used to visit her family in Michigan and bring back blueberries for all of us, "the best in the world".
My favorite story about Karen - She kept a huge glass jar of M&Ms on her desk, which kept a steady stream of visitors to her office for a quick pick-me-up. One year on Valentine's Day the jar was filled with red M&Ms, which was delightful. Then on St Patrick's Day, the jar was filled with green ones. I complimented her on her chocolate holiday relevance and wondered how she did it. She told me she bought a huge bag of Christmas M&Ms in a post-holiday clearance sale at Costco (a 25 pound bag?), then spent some evenings separating the red ones from the green ones. She swore me to secrecy as she didn't want anyone to think that was indicative of her social life. I guess it's okay to reveal it now. I thought her wondrously clever to think of it and bring some fun to an office which was going through some turbulent times.
I have fond memories of Karen. My belated condolences to her family and friends.