Obituary: Karen M. Jones

Karen M. Jones, 67, passed away suddenly July 24, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Karen was a longtime former resident of Grand Canyon, Tusayan and was a land owner in Valle.

Born and raised in Michigan and Ohio, Karen was drawn to the beauty of the western United States in her early 20's. She worked for Signal Mountain Lodge at Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming) before relocating to the Grand Canyon in the early 1980's.

She worked for Grand Canyon National Park Lodges/Fred Harvey at the Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim), starting like so many others as a GRA, and working her way up into an accounting position in the General Office.

Job opportunities then drew her to Tusayan, where she worked for Grand Canyon Airlines, South Rim Travel, and Airstar Helicopters. Karen was extremely proud of her time serving as an EMT at the Grand Canyon Airport. She established lifelong friendships and thousands of memories as she remained in the area until late 1999. She decided to give big city living a try and relocated to the Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona area.

With that move, Karen continued down the path of employment in the travel industry. In fact, in her 45 years of employment in Arizona, all of her jobs had some aspect of tourism, hospitality or travel. And she thrived at it. In Phoenix, she was employed by several large global corporate travel companies including Carlson Wagonlit and American Express. At the time of her death, she was employed by Direct Travel, working remotely as a Product Support Analyst, which she said was a fancy way to say "troubleshooter and fixer".

She lived her life to the fullest, she continued her education with online college courses, she was extremely proud of acquiring her Paralegal Certificate, and the many awards and recognition she earned during her long travel industry career. She loved animals, she enjoyed her independent lifestyle, and loved her family and friends- keeping in touch with most through Facebook.

Karen and her beloved dog, April, were found deceased in their Phoenix apartment on July 24, 2023. A non-functioning air conditioning unit led to her death of heat exposure. A tragic and senseless death, we continue to seek answers and to mourn our loss.

Karen is survived by siblings, T. Lindsay Jones of Wisconsin, Retired Major James Jones of Ohio, and Jacqueline (Jones) Ramsey of Bullhead City, Arizona, along with nephew Preston Ramsey of Ohio (both former Grand Canyon residents too)

She was taken too soon and will be missed by all.

The family plans to have a private memorial service at a later date.

The family has set up a Go Fund Me Account in her name to help with funeral, burial costs, her financial debts and legal expenses. It is Karen Jones 1956-2023, it is organized by Jacqueline (Jackie) Ramsey and link is www.gofundme.com/karen-jones-19562023.