Karen Maria Nelson, 72, died at her home in rural Wilson County on Nov. 3, 2025, surrounded by her family.
She was born June 19, 1953, in Chanute to Kenneth Herbert Nelson and Betty Louise Dolores Nelson. She graduated from Altoona-Midway High School in 1971. Nelson earned an associate degree from Neosho County Community College, a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with a TESOL emphasis, also from KU.
She began her professional career as a paralegal VISTA volunteer in Grand Island, Nebraska. In 1978 she joined the Peace Corps as a recruiter in Kansas City, later serving as a volunteer in Senegal. Over the next several decades, her Peace Corps and consulting work took her to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, including Guatemala, Belize, Ecuador, El Salvador, Senegal, Niger, Mauritania, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Moldova. She also consulted with USAID and the U.S. State Department in Nicaragua and Iraq.
Nelson spoke French, Wolof, Spanish and Romanian. After her international work, she returned to Kansas where she joined Pittsburg State University’s intensive English program, later retiring in 2019 as acting director.
She often said her rural upbringing equipped her with problem-solving skills, resilience and a strong sense of responsibility — qualities that helped her adapt while living in developing countries. After years of travel, she returned home to Kansas, believing firmly that “there’s no place like home.”
She was preceded in death by her parents and her nephew, Kevin Nelson.
Survivors include her siblings Christine (Rocky) Swiger of Florida; twin brother Charles Nelson of Lawrence; and Beth (Dan) Clarke of Toronto, Kansas; nephews Nathan Clarke and Kenneth Nelson; niece Kristen (Alec) Philip of Wamego; and great-nephew Evan Scott Philip, also of Wamego.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 21 at The Turn at Stone Creek Restaurant, 511 S. Country Club Road in Chanute. Guests may enter and park on the south side of the building.
Arrangements are under the direction of Countryside Funeral Home.
