Obituary for Karen K. Watts (d1985)
Troy Free Press, Troy, Lincoln County, MO.
From the clippings of John E. Meyer.

A prayer service for Karen K. WATTS, was held at 11 o’clock Monday morning, August 19, 1985. This was led by Fr. James Flynn at the Kemper-Marsh Chapel Troy.

Music for the service was played on the harp by her sister, Mary Beth WATTS.

Interment was in the Sacred Heart Cemetery, Troy. Casket bearers were Gary HOFFMANN, Ronald WATTS, Bryan WATTS, Edward KOHL and John KOHL.

A funeral mass was held in Lincoln, Nebraska Friday morning, August 16 at 10:30 from the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church with Father Thomas Holoman officiating. The Rosary was recited Thursday evening, August 15 at the Butherus-Maser & Love Mortuary in Lincoln and a Christian Wake Service was held at the Kemper-Marsh Chapel in Troy on Sunday evening, Aug. 18, 1985.

Karen died at her home in Lincoln Tuesday morning, August 13, 1985 at the age of 27 years.

The following article appeared in the Lincoln, Nebraska Journal, written by Leslie Boellstorff.

Karen K. WATTS, 27,was on the forefront of diabetes research.

During the past three years, she had undergone 17 surgeries and three pancreas transplants at the University of Minnesota Hospital’s organ transplant unit.

She was the second person in the state to receive a pancreas transplant.

She believed strongly in education about juvenile diabetes. As a youngster, she served as a "welcoming committee" for other children diagnosed with diabetes. She was a committee member of Camp Floyd Rogers for diabetic children.

She was familiar with the physicians and the ongoing research into diabetes – beta cell implants at Washington University in St. Louis and insulin pump implants at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

"She was looking for a cure," her mother, Lela WATTS, said Wednesday.

But Karen lost her battle against diabetes, dying in her sleep Tuesday morning.

Karen’s parents, Lela and Bob WATTS, said she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was eight and one-half months old.

"She did very well until she was about 15 or 16 years old," Bob said. "But she’s had problems ever since."

One of her doctors said that she’d had every complication associated with diabetes. Her stomach failed, she suffered pain in her legs and feet and she lost her vision. Part of her vision in one eye was restored by laser surgery.

She was forced to complete her high school education at Lincoln East as a homebound student, Bob said.

She attended college classes, hoping eventually to become a dietician like her friend, Alice SMRHA, a longtime state Department of Health dietician and fellow Camp Floyd Rogers committee member, Lela said.

"She was very independent, tough as a boot," her father said. Although there was always a place for her at home, she kept her own apartment, because "she wanted that independence," he said.

Three years ago in September, Karen and her mother attended a transplant workshop for doctors in St. Louis. They were the only lay people there. It was there they met Dr. David SUTHERLAND, a prominent transplant surgeon, and learned of the possibility of a pancreas transplant, Lela said.

The first transplant was done in March 1983, Bob said. The donated organ was rejected in five weeks. The second transplant occurred that same summer and was rejected in 10 weeks.

The third transplant, done in June 1984, lasted seven months.

Each operation proved a little more successful, Lela said. While organs were working and producing insulin, she was considered non-diabetic.

After rejection of the third cadaver organ, doctors began to prepare to transplant half of a pancreas from one of her sisters.

By then, however, other organs began to fail. Prone to viral infections because of the immuno-suppressant drugs she was taking, Karen caught pneumonia. Her kidneys began to fail, and a kidney transplant became a prime concern.

The cause of her death is believed to be acute hypoglycemia – low blood sugar.

In addition to her parents, Karen WATTS is survived by her brother, Steve of Lincoln; sisters, Mrs. Sam (Carroll) SEGRIST of Scottsbluff, Mrs. Dion (Julie) KIRK of Gillette, Wy., Mary Beth WATTS of St. Louis, Mo.; grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy WATTS and Sophronia KOHL, all of Troy; nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations may be given to the Bonnie Smith Pancreas Transplant Fund, in care of the Lincoln Foundation, Room 200, 215 Centennial Mall South.

File submitted to HERITAGE PAGES of LINCOLN COUNTY, MISSOURI by Nancy Weller, 5 September, 2003.

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