Kara M. Ewers

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Kara Marie Ewers passed away peacefully and in comfort on a brisk autumn morning with the sun peeking through the clouds at Agrace Hospice in Fitchburg, WI, on Monday, November 20, 2023, following a brief, yet tenacious, battle against colon cancer.  She faced the challenge and her treatments with a courageous resolve, defiant grace, and a frank sense of humor to which anyone who followed her CaringBridge posts over the past ten months can attest.

Born on September 21, 1977, in Madison, WI, to Jerry and Sharon (Tibbits) Ewers, Kara grew up in McFarland, but spent many of the weekends of her youth on family farms in Mineral Point, always her “second home.”  She graduated from McFarland high school in 1996, studied finance at UW-Milwaukee and UW-Platteville, and then excelled at a career in the mortgage industry where she was highly respected for her vast knowledge of underwriting and investor guidelines and her ability to think outside the box.

It was while working at one of her first jobs that she met Scott, the love of her life, when she was assigned to work with him to catch up on some overflow.  The two of them established a quick friendship working late hours together, sharing stories about each other’s lives (and, admittedly, often butting heads about how the work should be performed).  After they were laid off during the mortgage crisis of 2008, Kara and Scott remained close, their friendship blossomed into love, they got their dog, Bandit, and then they were married on July 7, 2012, on a sweltering hot day at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison.

One of Kara’s many admirable traits – along with her selfless thoughtfulness of others, and her “sneaky funny” sense of humor (per her husband Scott’s description, which she wanted noted here) – and one of which she was most proud, was her loyalty.  Normally a quiet person, Kara would brag of her fierce faithfulness to her San Francisco Forty-Niners.  It is a loyalty she has carried for 40 years (“including their down years,” she often pointed out), all in the midst of Packers country.

Kara would often talk with family and friends of her “superpowers”: remaining calm amidst chaos (particularly helpful in the mortgage lending business), long-distance eavesdropping, and being such a patient listener that people would often end up confiding in her their secrets, even when they began talking only about something trivial.

She loved University of Wisconsin sports – most notably men’s basketball – and got great enjoyment needling Green Bay Packers fans about Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.  Kara was skilled at creating inspired flower arrangements and lovely table settings, both of which she put on grand display at dinner parties she and Scott would throw for their close friends, Tim Bendfelt and Jen Champoux. When it was time to relax, there wasn’t anything better than relaxing on her backyard patio with Scott and Bandit, or going for a pontoon boat ride with her family up in Rhinelander where they all share a second home.  But her great passion was playing golf.  Kara and her husband felt lucky and blessed to have played at numerous courses around the United States.

As much as anything else in life, Kara loved spending time with her goddaughter, her niece, Alex Hayes.  She and Alex share so many traits, and have such a special bond, that they often joke Kara must be Alex’s real mother, much to her actual birth mother’s chagrin (Krista, Kara’s sister).  Alex is even a Forty-Niners fan.  Though there is no doubt this was by nurture (Kara’s influence), and not by nature.

After her chemotherapy treatments were completed, and she had somewhat recovered from the side effects, Kara and Scott took a much-deserved getaway and spent a long golf weekend in Kohler, WI.  They played rounds at Black Wolf Run and The Bull at Pinehurst (a Jack Nicklaus-designed course).  Kara said The Bull was the most difficult course she’s ever played (though she of course wants it known that she beat Scott).  She said after the round that she’d developed an instant love/hate relationship with it.

While they did not play Whistling Straits on that Kohler trip, they did have lunch there on a patio overlooking the ninth and eighteenth greens.  As she watched the golfers and their caddies cautiously managing the course, and surveyed the vast, rolling, emerald fairways lined with dunes, tall mounds, thick grasses and patches of white sand bunkers, with the ultramarine blue of Lake Michigan in the background, Kara remarked in awe, “This must be what heaven is like.” 

Kara was preceded in death by her grandparents, Harold and Ruth Ewers, and James and Helen Tibbits; by Diane Whitford, her third cousin, but whom she regarded more as a very close aunt; and by her father-in-law, Bert Sorenson, and her mother-in-law and stepfather-in-law, Judy and Jim Mislivecek.

Kara is survived by her husband, Scott Sorenson, and her beloved dog, Bandit; her parents, Jerry and Sharon (Tibbits) Ewers; her sister, Krista Ewers-Hayes and brother-in-law, Brian Hayes; her goddaughter and niece, Alex Hayes;  brother-in-law, Curt (Andrea) Sorenson; nieces and nephew Kassi Sorenson, Celina Sorenson and Coty Sorenson; and numerous dearly cherished aunts, uncles and cousins.

Kara would like to thank doctors Berian, LoConte and Varley of UW hospital for their determined care and treatments, as well as the compassionate and dedicated nursing staffs of both UW Hospital and Agrace Hospice.

Kara also wants to encourage everyone to not only get their timely colonoscopy screenings, but also to spread the word and advocate for an earlier colonoscopy age recommendation.  It is currently at 45, but as Kara learned during her own battle, there is an alarming trend that colon cancer is afflicting younger people at an increasing rate.

A visitation will be held from 4:00 to 8:00 Wednesday evening, November 29, at Cress Funeral Service, 6021 University Ave in Madison.  The funeral will be held the following day, November 30, at Mineral Point United Church of Christ, 300 Maiden St, in Mineral Point.  The day will begin with a visitation from 9:30 to 10:30, with the funeral service at 11:00.  The burial ceremony will be at Graceland Cemetery followed by a fellowship luncheon at Dodge Point Country Club, 1771 County Rd YD, Mineral Point.

In lieu of flowers, Kara requests that donations be made to UW Carbone Cancer Center at https://cancer.wisc.edu/ways-to-give/giving/ and/or to Agrace Hospice in Fitchburg, WI, at https://www.agrace.org/donate/donate-today/ (in honor of Kara Ewers)

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Cress Center

6021 University Ave. Madison

(608) 238-8406