Memories of Karen Ann Jankovitz, (1963 - 2013)

Share a special moment from Karen's life.

June 9, 2014

Cuz

I think about you often. I miss you deeply. Sometimes i think you are just down in Florida, then it hits me. I can't believe it has almost been a year. Time goes by so fast. You are up in Heaven with all my other angels, looking down at us, and watching over us. I bet you and Darcy are up there hanging out, and waiting for me to join you 2 one day. You always got along with ole Darc. I miss and love you Cuz. Until We Meet Again!

Your Cuz,

Wha-Wa

I REMEMBER!

February 11, 2014

I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DO THIS SINCE JUNE WITH NO AVAIL. THOUGHT I COULD DO IT ON SUNDAY BUT NOPE...HERE IT GOES.

I REMEMBER TELLING MY MOM YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND. MOM SAYS KAREN ANN IS YOUR COUSIN...I SAY...SOOOOO SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND!
MOM SAYS....OKAYYYY!!...

I REMEMBER...YOU TEACHING ME TO SWIM AT THE ALLGOODS..FOLLOWING YOU AROUND LIKE A LOST PUPPY..BIRTHDAYS AND CHRISTMAS AT YOUR HOUSE..HANGING IN YOUR ROOM "ACTING OUT" LEADER OF THE PACK..YOU AND GENE FIGHTING..YOU GETTING IN TROUBLE FOR GOING TO THE QUARRY..YOU MOVING RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME...(I WAS IN HEAVEN)..YOU TEACHING ME HOW TO SHAVE MY LEGS IN YOUR COOL BATHTUB...GENE ALWAYS TEASING US THAT HE WOULD LOOK IN THE WINDOW ABOVE THE BATHROOM DOOR..COMING OVER AT THE BUTT CRACK OF DAWN AND WAITING FOR YOU TO GET UP!...HANGING AT THE APT ON MEADOWS AND PLAYING GAMES..WATCHING TV...AND THEN TO PEORIA WHERE WE WERE REALLY COOL...PLAYING POOL AND LISTENING TO MUSIC AND WELL SOME OTHER THINGS BUT THOSE ARE FOR US ONLY! HAHA...STAYING WITH YOU AFTER YOU HAD NIKKI...STAYING UP ALL NIGHT DOING OUR VERSION OF "FAME"..DRINKING BEERS AND DRYING JEANS BY THE OVEN...MY FIRST BIG GIRL OUTING WITH YOU ON MAIN ST. AND A GUY NAMED "JACK DANIELS"...THAT ENDED MY ASS ON AUNT HELEN'S COUCH..(HANGING MY HEAD)...IM SORRY I WORRIED YOU!.AND THANK YOU AUNT HELEN....MY FIRST ADULT VACATION TO FT MYERS...AND IT RAINED THE WHOLE TIME...THATS OK..WE FOUND BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN SUN SAND AND SURF...A PARTY AND A RATHER INTERSTING NIGHT CLUB WITH ASHLEY..LOVED HANGIN WITH YOU AND JANICE AND NIKKI..'YOU GO TO BED'!!...THE GAMBLING BOAT AND DINNER AND ALL THE VISITS YOU MADE BACK TO ILLINOIS... AND OUR MOST RECENT VISIT FOR AUNT HELENS 75TH..NOT SURE WHO WAS MORE SURPRISED..YOU OR HER! YOU GETTING TO MEET MY "MINI ME"
I WILL CHERISH THOSE MEMORIES THE MOST I THINK...OUR POOL TIME AND DINNER AND JUST SITTING "REMEMBERING"...AND OUR DINNER AT GENE AND PATTIE'S...THE MESSAGE I GOT WHEN YOU RECIEVED YOUR BDAY BLANKET..AND THE BRIEF CHECK IN MESSAGES TO SAY "LOVE YOU CUZ"...AND THEN THE "CALL"...I MISS AND LOVE YOU! PROUD TO HAVE HAD YOU IN MY LIFE. I WILL MISS THAT SMILE AND THE LAUGH TO GO WITH IT!.. SEE YA LATER ALIGATER...AFTERWHILE CROCIDILE!

Guardian Angel

July 27, 2013

For the people that have known Karen for a long time, this story will be no surprise, but for the ones who haven't known her as long, this is basically her nature. Karen had been down to Florida to help out with mom's medical procedures about 4 different times through a couple of years and when I say help out I mean she would sit by her side in the hospital almost constantly, stepping out only to get something to eat or take a shower and come back and sit. When mom got home, Karen waited on her hand and foot and watched over her which is a good thing because after a knee replacement procedure, mom had been home only about a week when she started having all the symptoms of a heart attack. Karen rushed her to the closest Emergency Room and after getting stabilized the Cardiologist said she needed 2 double by-passes and that she was lucky that Karen got her to the hospital so quick as the EMT's would not have gotten there and got her back to the hospital in time to survive. We spent a couple nights seeing her at the hospital before the surgery and on one particular night, Karen and I were in the parking lot late at night talking and getting ready to go home when I noticed a young guy hobbling on basically one leg as he was favoring the other and he would stop occasionally to rest and then begin again trying to reach the Emergency Room entrance from the parking lot, obviously in a great deal of pain. Karen didn't see him as she had her back towards him and I said it looked like that guy was not going to make it. Karen turned around to take a look. I am a helpful person but not unlike alot of people, I take a moment to discern whether or not I should get involved such as it could be a con to get someone to come over and help and then they rob you or the legal ramifications of trying to help someone and end up making it worse and getting sued. Yeah, not Karen, as soon as she saw him she was halfway there with me following behind. She grabbed the guy's arm and told me to get his other arm and we held him up and asked what his injury was. He said he woke up with his right leg in extreme pain and drove himself to the hospital. Karen told me to hang on to him and she rushed into the Emergency Room and got a wheelchair and brought it out and we put him in it. She wheeled him up to the Nurse's station and she waited until she saw he was getting care before we left. And that is how she always was with anyone needing help. It didn't matter what color his skin was, if he was young or old, rich or poor, big or small, clean or filthy or male or female, she would just react to help someone in need and she was the same way with animals. She was a Guardian Angel then, and she is a Guardian Angel now, I am sure of it.

The Big "gulp" Day

July 21, 2013

This photo was explained to me by Karen herself just this year when I commented that Jeff did not look too enthused in this pic, actually a little nervous. Karen told me it was due to the fact that they were over at my dad's house for Christmas, but more importantly to let my dad know that the stork was going to pay her a visit in about 9 months from then and that because of this "little" fact, they decided the best thing to do was to get married. Wow! Two bombs dropped at once! No wonder Jeff had that look on his face, lol. I just wonder what kind of look my dad had on his face, lol. At any rate, it must have turned out okay as Jeff is still alive and well today and Curt and Helen could not have inherited a better son-in-law than Jeff Mathews, and I could not have done better for a brother-in-law than my best friend.

We love the view

July 19, 2013

Karen and I created a home where there was none before. We built a home out of an 'ol barn on her property. A home is much more than a roof, doors and windows. It's about the love inside, our family, our animals. We together made it a home. Baby I love you so much and I miss you so much.

When Harry Met Sally

July 17, 2013

Fall , according to Jethro Tull, there was "Bungle in the Jungle" and Sammy Johns was singing about his "Chevy Van", Al Pacino was having a "Dog Day Afternoon" and George Carlin was hosting "Saturday Night Live", and let's not forget the "Thrilla in Manila" event where "Smokin' Joe" got stung by the "Bee", and that is when Jeff met Karen. It was a Friday night and Jeff had come over to my house in Bartonville for the first time, even though we had already met and were friends at school since we were freshmen at Limestone High. I had acquired in some way or another, a bottle of the finest Mogen David 20/20, for those out there not familiar with that beverage, it has a nickname of "Mad Dog 20/20" and it does and did live up to it's name. I was a little more acclaimated with alcohol, Jeff at the time was not. I performed some magic tricks as I was into that at the time and it amused and baffled Jeff, even more so as the bottle was getting half empty. Luckily my stepmother was working at the time at Sky Harbor Steakhouse and my dad was there every Friday night having dinner and drinks and waiting for her to get off and come home, but by that time we were ready to take a trip over to East Peoria and stay the night at my mom's house. Jeff was driving the family Ford Pinto (remember those cars?) a small green hatchback, which is where we decided to hide our almost empty bottle of "Mad Dog". While I was finding a place to put it, Jeff leaned on the hatchback door, conking me in the head in the process and that is when he decided I should take over the driving duties.
(NOTE:) KIDS AND ADULTS-DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, anyway off we went driving down Pfeiffer Rd., turning onto Ricketts Ave. which would lead us to W.Garfield Ave., a hill that took us down to S. Adams St. no problem except that at the time the Bartonville Police Dept. was located around the bottom of the hill and like little bees swarming around their hive, so did Bartonville's Finest. Lights, Camera, Action! As soon as those lights lit up, it was like Pavlov's dog that would salivate at the sound of a dinner bell, Jeff went into panic mode. I told him to calm down and we would be ok, he rolled the window down and made feeble attempts to sober up by slapping himself in the face multiple times. I told him that may look a little suspicious to the police officer now approaching my window. He asked for the usual documents, driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. At that point it dawned on me that my license was destroyed in the washing machine when it was left in a pair of my pants, and like most irresponsible teenagers, I had failed to get a replacement. He asked if I could step out of the car and follow him back to his cruiser. By that time, Jeff had turned a whiter shade of pale, so I walked back with the officer, the best I could anyway, trying hard not to appear as if I needed a cane to assist me and once inside, he made a series of calls on his radio, checking on my driving record. He issued me a warning citation and explained that if I went down to the DMV and got a replacement license and brought it in to the station for verification, they would erase it from my record. Nice guy I thought, course back then the law was alot more laxed about drinking and driving, not to say I didn't convince him otherwise, but it certainly wouldn't go over like that in this day and time. I thanked him and did my best not to walk like John Wayne back to the trusty Pinto where my red headed Tonto sat slapping his face and awaiting his fate. All was cool I assured him and when he finally exhaled, we took off again, this time arriving at my mom's house without any reoccurring mishaps. Upon pulling into my mom's driveway of the little one bedroom house on the infamous hill off Meadows Ave., the kitchen light across the street at my Uncle Bill's house came on and there in the window was Karen and her bestie cuz, Phyllis Tisdel. Karen was spending the night and of course the sound of a car pulling up across the street piqued their interest and they just had to take a look. Jeff turned around, looked up at the window and asked who they were and I told him that was my cuz and the older girl was my sister Karen. The next morning we woke up with the proverbial hangover and were sitting at the kitchen table when in walked Karen and Phyllis to take a better look, and we all know what we look like the morning after. They just looked at us and laughed, and that was the beginning of more stories to come of when Jeff met Karen.

Karen's Obituary

July 14, 2013

EAST PEORIA - Karen Ann Jankovitz, 50, of Candler, N.C., formerly of East Peoria, passed on Tuesday, June 11, 2013.

She was born on Feb. 9, 1963, to Curtis and Helen Jankovitz in Peoria, Ill.

Karen attended East Peoria High School and went on to receive her A.S. in business at Hodges University in Naples, Fla., in 2001.

Karen lived for more than 16 years in Fort Myers, Fla., where she worked as a manager with DHL Inc. before relocating to Candler, N.C., where she lived on her 2.5-acre property with a beautiful view of the mountains that she loved so much. She lived this life here on Earth to the fullest that she possibly could, as if there was no tomorrow and her contagious smile would light up any room she entered.

She was always helpful to everyone she knew, friend or stranger, and always there to lend a hand to anyone who needed it. Always standing up for the underdog, never confrontational, but fiercely protective of the ones lucky enough to be her family or friends.

Karen was preceded in death by her father, Curtis E. Jankovitz Sr.; and survived by her daughter, Nikya K. Haley, husband, Dan, and grandkids, Gage and Hope of Roanoke, Ill.; her mother, Helen K. Coblentz of Fort Myers, Fla.; brother, Curtis E. Jankovitz Jr. and wife, Patricia, of Fort Myers, Fla.; uncle, Gerald Jankovitz of Beardstown, Ill., and all her loving cousins and friends.

Karen will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Please visit her website: Karen-Ann-Jankovitz.forevermissed.com.

Donations can be made to any No Kill Animal Shelter.

Published in Peoria Journal Star on July 14, 2013

Happy Halloween 2012

July 14, 2013

Karen carving a pumpkin on Mom's lanai 10/2012

Mom Helen's 75th B-day dinner 7/7/2012

July 14, 2013

Oh! This was a great day! All unexpected and turned out well.

Mom Helen loves Italian cusine. I prepared my mother's ( Mary Vail ) home made meat ball receipe along with spaghetti, salad, crab cakes for an appetizer and cheese cake for dessert.
Jeanie is missing from the photo. She did not want to sit at the table. Jeanie was comfortable at the kitchen nook with Curtis enjoying a Michelob. I now wish I would of insisted she sit at the table just for the picture. I would of saved her place at the nook enjoying a beer until the picture was taken. LOL ( Live and Learn )

I love the Tisdel family and know they are a very special part of Karen's life.

Pattie

Bowling Day

June 28, 2013

This was one of two days we went bowling with Karen at Beach Bowl on the way to Fort Myers Beach on one of her many trips down here to Florida. It had been quite awhile since any of us had bowled and we were all looking forward to doing it together again, especially Karen, who wanted mom to get out and enjoy it as she used to belong to a league and was really a good bowler. Although there wasn't any of us that had a score that would have the leagues searching us out to join them, we did have a great time, a lot of laughs and memories of all of us doing that activity one last time. Karen fell a couple of times, but with grace and great form and got right back up as she always did with everything in her life. In fact, the last thing I said to her in person the night before she flew back to North Carolina was to go home and get better so she could come back down and we could all go bowling again, and she said she was going to try because she wanted to really bad also.
P.S. The above photo was one of her S-S-S-STRIKES!

Downtown

June 24, 2013

This is one of the very few and rare pics of Karen in a dress. Mom had her hair done like this and at the time the big hit of the day was "Downtown" by Petula Clark and everytime she heard the song she would do her little dance which consisted of bobbing up and down in a half squat through the entire song, lol. I would always tease her about it whenever we saw this pic or heard the song on the radio to this day.

June 23, 2013

What a day this was! My first and my last experience whitewater rafting...our raft ended up tipping over and I went rushing down the rapids. I thought I was going to drown and my big cuz was just as worried as Janice and Nikki. We all had laughs later that weekend about it and we are always reminded of how our raft tipped and how Janice and Nikki's didn't.

June 23, 2013

Karen shared with Nikki and I one of her favorite places this day, Devils Courthouse. I can say I know the reason why this is one of her favorite places. A very serene place to go and gather your thoughts, get away from the world and to enjoy God's workings. Visiting Karen that weekend 8 yrs ago made me fall in love with North Carolina and now I call it home.

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