Karen M. (Lindquist) Griffith

Karen Marie Griffith, age 88, of Hammond, Indiana, passed away during the evening of March 4, 2025. Karen was born on December 5, 1936, to Marie E. (Nicholson) and Richard G. Lindquist in Gary, Indiana, and lived most of her life in the Calumet Region.

With a sharp wit and keen mathematical mind, Karen was highly suited to her career as an elementary school teacher, which she returned to after raising three children, taking on even higher challenges in special education classrooms later in her career. She kept a tidy home and made sure her children always knew how to care for their surroundings, modeling efficiency and thrift, often making special items of clothing by hand for her children.

For special occasions and birthdays, Karen collaborated with her children, reaching for her trusted Betty Crocker Cookbook to suggest a particular cake or birthday meal. She instilled a love of libraries in her children and always smiled when her daughter Leslie selected the picture book Mexicali Soup again and again (and again) — eventually buying the book so Leslie would never be disappointed if it wasn’t available from their local library branch. In her final weeks, Leslie took Mexicali Soup off her shelf and read it to Karen at Dyer Nursing Home, where she spent the last few months of her life.

In 1983, Karen married Richard G. Griffith, and they supported one another throughout their 41-year marriage, which was her second. She was welcomed warmly into Richard’s family and enjoyed frequent visits to their home in Michigan.

Karen showed an interest in ancestry, researching her family tree to its roots in Sweden, and writing a short unpublished memoir filled with stories and descriptions reaching back generations. She was fascinated by the impact her family had on the landscape of Northwest Indiana, where her ancestors settled after arriving in this country.

Karen combined her love for family and international travel, visiting England and Sweden, with side trips to many destinations around Europe. When her kids were growing up, she hosted foreign-exchange students, opening her home to immersive cultural experiences.

Throughout her life, Karen enjoyed reading, taking brisk walks, playing cards, and completing puzzles with her grandchildren. She was also an avid reader of books and newspapers, often sharing favorite — or most outlandish — passages out loud during long weekend breakfasts in the sunny, wood-paneled dining room of the Hammond home she shared with Richard.

For decades, Karen’s true love was her garden, where she’d nip out “just to do a little weeding” only to return inside after several hours of rearranging plants to best suit their sun and soil preferences.

She appreciated flowers and trees, but she also enjoyed growing lettuce, parsley, and peas. She loved watching birds and squirrels enjoy her garden and was a fierce advocate of animals — domestic and wild — often putting out leftovers, which attracted some of the more unusual animal visitors late at night.

Karen was an avid knitter, crafting hundreds of garments through her lifetime and teaching all children and adults who showed an interest how to cast on, knit, and purl. Her final projects were wool hats and blankets she sent to nonprofit organizations in aid of children abroad who were displaced due to war and natural disasters.

Karen is predeceased by her great-grandson, Paxton. She is survived by her husband, Richard, daughters Leslie (Alfonso) Martinez, Claire (David) Charlton, son Scott Dixon, grandchildren Elise, Jillian, Kuiper and Kit, great-grandchildren Camden and Lowen, brother, Richard E. (Barbara) Lindquist, their children and grandchildren, plus cousins, extended family members and friends.

Karen will be sorely missed by her husband, Richard, and he will keep her memory close.

Private cremation services were provided by FIFE FUNERAL HOME, 4201 Indianapolis Blvd., East Chicago, IN.  To share an online condolence. logon to www.fifefuneralhome.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Karen M. (Lindquist) Griffith, please visit our floral store.