Karen Sloan

Obituary

Karen Kristeen Thomson Sloan, 85, passed away peacefully February 7, 2021 at her home in Torrance.

Due to social gathering restrictions, a service will not be held.  She will be laid to rest at Riverside National Cemetery.

She was born February 9, 1935 in Ephraim, UT to Margaret Marie Thomson (Jensen) and A. Lincoln Thomson.  She spent most of her young years in Salt Lake City and attended Stevens Henager College before moving to Los Angeles where she married her devoted husband, Doyle “Dean” Sloan in June of 1956, who preceded her in death.

Karen showed her love to her family and friends by cooking for them.  Dean’s family migrated from Texas when he was a boy and brought a taste of Southwest cuisine with them.  Karen was known for her delicious tacos and enchiladas in response to Dean’s Mexican food appetite.  Karen’s family immigrated from Denmark, and one of her favorite things to make for her grandchildren were her famous scones.

It was common for Dean to awaken early to Karen in the kitchen preparing a hot lunch for her coworkers at Dart Entities, where she worked as an Executive Assistant for over 40 years.  Founded by the legendary USC Baseball Coach, Rod Dedeaux, Dart is where Karen found her “bonus” family and loved working in a company with a rich history in baseball.  Karen was known to take her vacation time in hours, not days, when she and Dean were raising their two sons in competitive baseball and would not miss a game, nor their daughter’s track meets and figure skating competitions.  She was very talented with a sewing machine and made treasured costumes for her daughter and other family members.

Karen and Dean raised their family in Cerritos where Dean coached little league baseball and Karen kept score in the stands.  They were active in multiple civic and community organizations and made many lifetime friends.  They were dedicated fans of athletics at Cerritos High School where their children attended from 1971 to 1984.  Karen provided transportation to and from practices, games and activities to her children and their friends and welcomed all into her home.  She would often pick up 20 McDonald’s hamburgers at a time to feed teams and cheerleaders in between games.  On Fridays she had Dean stop by Avenue 3 Pizza on his way home, which gave her teenagers many memories of late-night leftovers and cold pizza breakfast on Saturday morning.

They moved to Torrance during their empty nest years. 

Karen looked forward to the annual Jensen Family Reunion in Gunnison, UT and the Sloan’s “Easter Picnic” in California.  Easter mornings began with her cooking breakfast outdoors in the park at 6:00 followed by a multi-generational softball game.  She and Dean loved watching the little ones hunt for eggs while they did their best to avoid the confetti-filled ones being smashed on heads by the older kids.  They loved it all.

Karen is survived by her children Steven Sloan (Cathy), Julie Sloan Nilsen (Dan), Gary Sloan (Stephanie), and grandchildren Aaron Sloan, Andrew Sloan, Kevin Sloan (Traci), Kristina Nilsen Migchelbrink (Matt), Alicia Nilsen, Bliss Nilsen Lundgren (Justin), and great-grandson Colton Dean Sloan and by her two sisters Marilyn Thomson Halton, Margaret “Evelyn” Thomson Schurman and sister-in-law Marie Madsen Thomson. Her brother Daniel Thomson preceded her in death.  She loved her many nieces and nephews from both the Sloan and Thomson families.

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