Karen Haltaufderheide

Karen Ann Haltaufderheide, age 68, passed away peacefully after battling lung cancer. She was born on August 20, 1952 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, daughter to Wilmer and Lorraine (Kempfert) Pantzlaff. She was united in marriage to Gary Haltaufderheide on April 28, 1974 in Morrison. They were married 47 years and together raised two wonderful children, Heather and Eddie.

Karen had a deep faith and was devoted to her church. She loved with abundance, she was the first to reach out her hand, to forgive, to give a hug and to share a laugh. There was always room for another seat at the table and unlimited invitations to the party. The more the merrier. She loved her friends like family and her family always came first.

Karen and Gary were almost inseparable, always focused on having fun. They danced in the kitchen when they washed dishes, they talked for hours over gin and tonics and they loved to go on adventures – whether it was a drive to campus for an ice cream or searching for their favorite beach. She would go out of her way to be there for her children. She would run a forgotten lunch to school, make big welcome home signs to wave at the airport and make endless mac-n-cheese and cookies for play dates. She made favorite foods, whether cherry pie or bacon, to show her love. Time with her grandchildren filled her with the most joy. She would be the loudest one cheering at their sporting events, take time to play games, snuggle for hours and host baking parties, banana bread and Christmas cookies were her specialty.

Karen’s love also extended to every student she helped as a teacher’s aide with the Sun Prairie School District for 20 years. She wanted each of them to know their worth, to help them build confidence and to make sure they knew she was their champion. May her love live on in each of them and in each of us.

She is survived by her husband Gary; daughter, Heather (Gregory) Nelson and son, Eddie (Sarah) Haltaufderheide; grandchildren, Kiah, Abbie, Miles and Finnegan; brothers, Vernon (Bonnie) Pantzlaff, Norman (Kathleen) Pantzlaff, Wilmer Jr. (Marie) Pantzlaff and Donald (Nancy) Pantzlaff and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Funeral services will be held at Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1007 Stonehaven Drive, Sun Prairie on Saturday, February 13, 2021, at 12:00 p.m. with Pastor Luke Werre officiating. Visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m. until the time of service.

Funeral service may be viewed at

https://vimeo.com/event/541323

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the UW Carbone Cancer Center. Karen had the best care and would want others to benefit from the continued advancement of medicine.

Special thanks to Michael Aughey, MD; Michael S. Huie, MD; Karen M. Huseby-Moore, NP; Robert B. Hegeman, MD; Mustafa Baskaya, MD, Stacey, Tenzen and the whole care team at UW Carbone Cancer Center and UW Health Neurosurgery. Thank you to everyone who cheered Karen on, cared for her and made the fight so worth it.