Mary Karen Fyles Gillenwater
March 14, 1942 - March 5, 2012
Mary Karen Fyles Gillenwater’s family came to Seward when she and her twin brother Jim Fyles were 6 years old. Her dad worked for the city until he retired and her mother did a variety of jobs among which was to work at the library.
Karen contracted Polio at the age of 12 and spent the next 4 years fighting that and getting her high school education at Seward High School. Karen and her brother Jim ran a trap line for a while and she worked at the radio station as a dick jockey a few hours a week when she was well enough.
Upon completion of high school Karen moved to Denver, Colo. and married David Gillenwater. She went to the University of Colorado and earned a double degrees of bachelors’ of science and medical technology. She worked for Denver Health Hospital as the supervisor of the out patient labs for 37 years and retired in 2009.
Her favorite place to be on the Fourth of July was always Seward.
Karen Died from breast cancer after a 6 1/2 year struggle. She is survived by her mother Virginia Fyles, twin brother Jim Fyles and husband David Gillenwater.