Karen Marie Benjamin

Karen Benjamin, age 31, passed away on Jan. 5, 2017, due to an automobile accident. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, at 11 a.m., in the Building U 2nd Floor Conference Room, at Providence Alaska Medical Center, 3851 Piper Street in Anchorage, Alaska. The service will be officiated by the Reverends Dave Jones Valley View Baptist Church and Rick Benjamin of Hope Community Resources. Karen Marie Benjamin was born on Nov. 26, 1985, in Charlotte, N.C. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Charleston Southern University. Her love was pediatrics, whether in a hospital Emergency Department or as a community health nurse. She was a traveler nurse at various locations across the country. She came to Alaska with her beloved dog, Kiah, on Jan. 1, 2014. She worked at Providence Alaska Medical Center and Hope Community Resources. At Hope, Karen worked as a community health nurse, serving people with intellectual disabilities and staff. She was a member of the Valley View Baptist Church in Eagle River, Alaska. She loved living in Alaska and in her short time here, her joyful, caring spirit touched many peoples lives. She left us way too early and she will be missed by many. Karen is survived by her parents, Larry and Katherine (Kathi) Benjamin of Utica, Miss.; her sister, Megan and brother-in-law, Jonathan Choate of Adairsville, Ga.; her aunt, Janice Morgan Gillette of Apalachin, N.Y.; and two uncles from New York and another uncle from North Carolina; and many more cousins, family and friends, including her dog, Kiah, and cat, Carolina. She had a special set of adopted grandparents, Buddy and Judy Goforth of Mooresville, N.C. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the ASPCA, Hope Community Resources, Friends of Pets or Valley View Baptist Church in Eagle River, Alaska, in Karen's memory.