Karen Lee Elvira Bruinooge, 86, of 2612 Terrace Circle died of cancer on Friday, October 30, at Sharon Richardson Hospice in Sheboygan Falls.
Karen was born June 19, 1940, in Sheboygan to James and Nina (Stuart) Bruinooge. She was a graduate of Central High School and also of Carroll College in 1963. A year later, she completed an internship in medical technology at Waukesha Memorial Hospital and passed the registry exam in this field. She then worked as a medical technologist for three years at Waukesha Memorial for three years at Plymouth (WI) Hospital, and 27 years at St. Nicholas Hospital (Sheboygan), retiring from there in 1996.
Karen was passionate about her studies and fields of endeavor. This began early. She was very interested in plant and animal life and later did a college major in biology. When her mother cleaned Karen’s room she didn’t know when she might find some bird’s eggs or a bird’s nest or other nature artifact. When Karen studied German in college, she practiced on all her friends and relatives—whether or not they knew a word of German. This led to unusual fluency for someone only studying the language in her academic classes. As she studied and became a medical technologist, Karen scrutinized her companions’ veins to determine if they would be good ones for drawing blood! This helped her to do a particularly gentle job. Her colleagues sought her out to do most of the blood drawing from children.
Karen had an extensive second career as an instrumental musician who played piano, violin, and organ. The organ was her favorite, but she was probably most outstanding as a violinist. While in college she began playing violin with the Waukesha Symphony. When she moved back to Sheboygan, she joined the Sheboygan Symphony. Her great-grandfather, Frank Lange, was one of the men who helped to found the Sheboygan Symphony. He was primarily a cabinet maker who also made some violins as a sideline. Karen has always played a violin made by Frank Lange. At the time of her death, Karen was the longest playing member of the Sheboygan Symphony, since 1967. She was especially proud several years ago to be named to the Sheboygan Music Wall of Fame as her great-grandfather was also a Wall of Fame member.
Karen had served in the past as organist at these Sheboygan churches—Zion UCC (now Zion Evangelical Covenant Church), Ebeneezer Lutheran Church, and St. Andrews Lutheran Church. At the time of her death, Karen was an organist at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Sheboygan Falls and Immanuel UCC Church in Plymouth. At the time of her death, Karen was the longest serving member of the Golden Chordaliers, since 1980. She was an accompanist on piano and more recently on violin. Karen was a long-time member of the Sheboygan Music Club. She played for many years at weekly chapel services and other programs at both Sunny Ridge (now called Edenbrook) and the Sheboygan Senior Community. She also did frequent music presentations at various other nursing homes and meal sites in Sheboygan County. Karen had also participated as a violinist with the Sheboygan Theatre Company. She has participated in the music portion of “Making Spirits Bright” every year since that activity has started up.
Extensive travel in the United States and internationally with her best friend, Valerie Schneider, was a favorite activity of Karen’s. She was especially thrilled to see sites in Scotland associated with her ancestors, the Stuart Clan and royal family. An important travel accomplishment was to see the seven modern wonders of the world—the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, The Roman Colosseum, Chichen Itza (Mexico), Christ Redeemer Statue in Brazil, Petra, Jordan, and the Manchu Picchu in Peru. They also saw the one remaining ancient world wonder—the Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Egypt.
Karen is survived by her first cousins, Stuart and Mary Bawden, and by several more distant cousins.
A Funeral Service for Karen will take place at 1:00 PM on Monday, November 9, 2026, at Ballhorn Chapels, 1201 N 8th St. in Sheboygan with Karen’s Pastor, Chris McKnight, of Zion Evangelical Covenant Church, officiating. Family will greet visitors on Monday, at the funeral home from 11:30 AM until the time of the service. Karen will be laid to rest at Wildwood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Karen’s name can be sent to Zion Evangelical Covenant Church or to Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice.
The family would like to thank the staff at Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice for the excellent care shown to Karen.
Ballhorn Chapels Funeral & Cremation Care Center is caring for Karen and her family. To leave an online condolence, please visit www.ballhornchapels.com
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