Karen Virginia Okey

February 24, 1935 - July 17, 2020

Karen Virginia Okey passed away peacefully June 17th, 2020 at the age of 85 from natural causes. Karen was born in Willisville, IL, to William Howard and Virginia Repke. She was raised in Chicago, and then moved on to Madison, WI to raise her own family. She was involved in many community activities and local politics. Karen moved to California in the early 1980's and settled in the Rancho Bernardo, Escondido area as did both her mother and eldest daughter. During her time in the community, Karen continued to travel, and play and teach bridge, and stay active in the community. However, her greatest passion was for golf. She was an avid player, and served many roles as a member of the Rancho Bernardo Inn Woman's Golf club. She was supremely proud of her 5 hole-in-ones, and preferred being out on the courses than anywhere else. On July14th, 2019, after being together with Robert Gagliano for over 25 years, Karen and Bob married. They enjoyed their life together, and treasured their friends, and their active social life. Bob preceded Karen's death by about 3 months. Karen is survived by her children, Lynn Okey (San Marcos, CA), Mark Okey (Madison, WI), Kara Speerschnieder (husband Timm) (Madison, WI), her brother Warren Repke (Dee) (Canyon Lake, CA), her sister-in-law Helen Repke (Donald, deceased), and many loving grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.