Karen Real

It is with great sadness that the family of Karen (Meister) Real announces her passing after a courageous battle with Pancreatic Cancer, on Sunday, May 7, 2017, at the age of 61. Born July 30, 1955, in Lexington Park, MD, she was the daughter of Ralph and Eleanor Meister of Naperville, IL. On June 29, 1974, she married Robert (Bob) Real. They welcomed three daughters in Naperville before relocating to Appleton, WI in 1990.Karen graduated from Naperville Central High School in 1973. During high school and after graduation she worked at Alton Drugs until 1979 followed by Bell Labs from 1980 to 1987. She ran an in-home daycare from 1987 to 1996 and lastly worked at Menasha Packaging from 1997 until she retired in 2016. A member of St. Mary Parish in Appleton, Karen lived a faithful life and enjoyed being active in their Inter-parish Religious Formation (IPRF) program. Her greatest joy came from spending time with her family. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and aunt, always putting others before herself. She had an incredibly generous, compassionate heart and touched many lives with her presence. Her family will forever be thankful for the beautiful gift that was her life.

Karen will be greatly missed by her husband of nearly 43 years, Bob; daughters, Kathy, Kimmy (James) Merdan and Kristin (James) Van Lankvelt; and granddaughters Kylee and Aubree. She was very much looking forward to the births of her third and fourth granddaughters expected to arrive in May and July. She is also survived by her parents Ralph and Eleanor Meister, sister Carolyn (Jeff) Rott; mother-in-law, Laura Real; sisters-in-law Linda Hinchman, Sandy (Ken) Sawica, Patty Zarate, and Theresa (Andy) Hubbell; nieces and nephews Greg and Kenny Rott, Brian (Melissa) Hinchman, Scott (Kristen) Sawica, Kristy (Scott) Merlie, Stacey (Charles) Hinchman, Jessica (Josh) Beltz, Mike Hubbell, and Dan, Joe and Jake Zarate; four great-nieces and nephews; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her father-in-law Leroy Real and her grandparents.

The Funeral Mass will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 2, 2017 at St. Mary Parish, 312 S. State Street, Appleton. The visitation will be held at the church from 12:00 p.m. until the hour of mass.

The family would like to thank Dr. Timothy Goggins at Fox Valley Hematology and Oncology, Dr. Paul Ritch at Froedtert Hospital, and their respective teams, as well as Heartland Hospice for their wonderful care and support.