Karen (Farley) (Johnson) Lyons, 82, of Sycamore, died Tuesday, Jan. 14, as a result of a respiratory infection.

Karen Ann was born in DeKalb on Dec. 22, 1937, to Charles and Antonia (Anderson) Farley. A dark-haired beauty, she graduated from DeKalb High School in 1955. She married Jerome 'Jerry' Lyons in 1985.

Admired for her charisma, creativity and kindness, Karen possessed a remarkable range of talents.

After many years as a stay-at-home mother, Karen became a columnist for the DeKalb County Journal in the early 1970s. She later wrote for the magazine, TV Time TV Day, where she interviewed celebrities, such as Richard Chamberlain and Carol Burnett.

She was later an award-winning copywriter for the W. E. Long advertising firm in the Chicago Loop, enduring a grueling commute that started in darkness from Sycamore to the train station in Geneva.

Karen was hired by Ball Horticultural Co., and named an executive officer, a rare perch for a woman in business at the time – especially for a woman who had not gone to college. She also worked as a successful real estate agent, largely in Fox Valley, and established a business, alongside Jerry, renovating and selling homes.

An inspiring and devoted mother, she hand-made Easter clothes for her children, led a Brownie troop, organized a basketball marathon and played guitar for family singalongs. Despite her asthma and allergies, she brought home a collie dog, Alpha, insistent that her children not be deprived of the experience of having a pet.

She taught religious education classes at St. Mary's in Sycamore and, as a child who had grown up alongside the tracks with extreme adversity, she was on the look-out for a kid experiencing hardship and needing nurturing.

As a grandmother, she was magical.

She hosted an annual 'Back to School Bonfire' that included stories, performances and video-recorded interviews with her grandchildren.

She referred to her grandchildren as "The Magnificent Eleven." She created a painting of the kids together, portrayed in frolicking dance, and fashioned a tabletop tree adorned with a photograph of each of them. At their ballgames, she was legendary for her boisterous chants of 'Woo! Woo!' that rang out from the bleachers.

During one Pumpkin Parade, she dressed as a frightening witch. Jerry, a man nearly the size of Paul Bunyan, traipsed alongside as a terrifying vampire, as they haunted Somonauk Street.

At the behest of a grandchild, Karen delivered a hip-hop rendition for a talent show at Sycamore High School as the performer, "Rappin' Grandma."

On serious and difficult matters, too, Karen offered uncommon and invaluable insight and support to her grandchildren, as she did – to the end – for her own children.

Karen was a fierce advocate for social justice, equality and compassion for those who face bias or endure struggle. For an imprisoned woman she had never met, Karen regularly sent books and e-mails with words of encouragement. The incarcerated woman spoke of Karen as "my guardian angel."

With Jerry, Karen experienced a magnificent romance, friendship and partnership. In their early days together, they had slow-danced at midnight to the music on a jukebox in an empty Dunkin Donuts. As their hair turned silver, they snuggled on the couch in their cottage on Lake Thunderbird.

If there was a creative project for the house or yard – and there was always a project – Karen would imagine a vision and Jerry would skillfully make it a reality.

In her final hours, Karen was serenaded with love songs by tearful Jerry, an accomplished singer, joined by her four children surrounding her hospital bed.

Karen is survived by Jerome, her husband of 34 years; her children, Dirk Johnson, Cynthia (Benjamin) Chereskin, Rachel (Ted) Strack, Jennifer Johnson (Richard Neubauer); grandchildren, Amanda, Harlan (Lindsay), Nora and Henry Johnson, Jacob (Melissa) and Alexander Chereskin, Will (Patricia), Joseph and Tessa Strack, Emma and Georgia Johnson; brothers, Michael, Lawrence, Charles, Kevin, Terrence, James and Kevin Farley, sister, Merijo Anderson, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Patricia McCabe, and the father of her children, Glen Johnson (Donna).

The visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31, at Butala Funeral Home and Crematory, 1405 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore.

Father Carl Beekman will officiate the Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 244 Waterman St., Sycamore, with a luncheon to follow in the parish hall.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hope Haven of DeKalb County.

To sign the online guest book or share a special memory, go to www.ButalaFuneralHomes.com