Karen (Wurtz) Hayward, 79, a Teacher, Mother, Peace Corps Volunteer, and 29-year resident of Milwaukee, died Thursday November 1, 2018 after a lifetime with many health problems. Keeping with her own habit, it is only fitting that you now take out a red-ink pen and write some notes here and in the margins, adding your corrections for grammar, poor facts, and various other offenses. Always the teacher, she would have spared you no less on this occasion. Karen was born to the late Harold and Erna Wurtz in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin on June 6, 1939. She was the oldest of four children, and Karen is survived by her two sons: Preston (Beth) and Brion (Brenda); her brother and sister: Jeffrey (Charlene) and Rondi; her ex-husband John, as well as three grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. Karen was preceded in death by both her parents, one sister: Joanna (together with husband Paul Grahl), and a daughter-in-law: Kelly (Warnecke). Karen started life much as she finished it: an independent woman who had full control over her mind and decisions right to the end. She graduated from L.P. Goodrich High School in Fond Du Lac in 1957. Told by her parents at an early age that she was expected to honor her church and God by accomplishing nothing more in life than serving a future husband at home, Karen instead chose more. She paid her own way through school at U.W. Madison, graduating in June 1961 with a bachelor's degree in Education that started her profession as a Teacher. She took time at U.W. Madison to join the Hoofers Riding Club, which was an opportunity to enjoy her lifelong love of horses. Her hobbies included art, music, cooking, and reading. She loved animals and the environment, whether it was sharing her life with various cats over the years, or supporting charities such as The Nature Conservancy. Her music interests included listening to folk and classical recordings, as well as sharing her knowledge of the piano. Karen's continuing path of lifelong learning would eventually teach her additional language skills with formal schooling in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian at other U.W. campuses. Karen and fellow U.W. Madison student John Hayward married in Middleton, WI in April of 1962, committing a great offense against her parents by choosing to marry outside the denomination of her family church. The fact that all involved parties were of the Christian faith provided no comfort or forgiveness for her actions. Unrepentant, Karen and John set out on their own and embraced the 1960's spirit of youthful idealism, activism, and equal rights for women and minorities that was changing America at that time. Having been dealt the blows of an ill-fated and ill-funded attempt by her husband to enter Democratic politics after his military service and schooling, they instead volunteered for another form of public service by joining a new organization called the Peace Corps. They took their Spanish and preparation courses at U.C. Berkeley, and served and taught as a married couple in one of the barrios of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela from 1964-1966. They would return to live in Marshfield, WI as John took an appointment to serve as postmaster to the local U.S. Post Office, and Karen continued her employment as a teacher. She first worked as a teacher in Barrington IL, and later in various Wisconsin school districts including Loyal, Auburndale, Racine, Green Bay, and finally Milwaukee. Her last jobs teaching in Milwaukee were part-time and substitute positions, a reality of what her declining health permitted. But she took the greatest joy teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to Latino students in the inner-city schools of Milwaukee, finding a common connection with a culture that values discipline and respect in the face of adversity, and sharing perspectives than could only be gathered by having lived and traveled in Central and South America, as she did. Karen and John raised two sons, Preston and Brion, both of whom would also also graduate from U.W. schools and serve their country with military service. Her sons inherited her hunger for education and knowledge, as well as hunger for the delicious meals she would prepare for all of us as we grew up. Her fascination with learning about foreign cultures and their cuisines was always on display with her exceptional and diverse cooking talents, along with the assorted volumes of three-ring binders containing recipes she clipped by hand from newspapers and magazines over the years. These collections stood right up on the shelves with numerous foreign-language dictionaries to match. And so many other books, and books, and books... Health problems always plagued Karen. What started as various broken bones, repeatedly dislocated joints, miscarriage, and diagnoses for obscure things like Raynaud's Syndrome then included greater problems with severe scoliosis, arthritis, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, fibromyalgia, and other assorted hospitalizations for hysterectomy, mastectomy, pneumonia, and eventually the breast cancer that finally came at the end. It seemed no amount of medication, either prescribed or self-imbibed, could ease her pains in life. Karen spent more than a decade at the end of her life in a nursing home bed, albeit with full control over her mental and verbal faculties. If you had the chance to meet Karen, you would remember that she was always trying to teach you a lesson, whether you even wanted such a thing or not. She wouldn't hesitate to size you up and put you in your place, be it for your comments with the moment at hand, your background or profession that led you to her, and your education in particular. Mostly she wanted to see if you had the ability or inclination to exchange facts and information, which she was more than happy to provide in your place, asking nothing more of you than your quiet attention, respect, and sympathies. And oh my, she loved the verbal chess game of a good argument, all the time reminding you for your shortcomings of past or present. We also witnessed that right to the end, Karen kept her mind as sharp as her verbal jabs; always scribbling notes in the margins of any paper or book at hand, offering commentary on everything from that day's food menu at the nursing home, observations of poor grammar, lengthy rants on certain politicians, or notes on subjects like dark matter and the expansion of the universe that she probably gathered from Public Television. Always curious, and always paying attention, she would say. So what have we learned, Mom, when we look back on your lessons on life spanning from youthful hope and on to disappointments with dreams, health, marriage, and old age? Was it by fate, was it by choice? Was there some final exam at the end to give it all measure and meaning? Even Karen, our Mother and our Teacher, might not have an answer for all that. It was all done as best she could with the love and the talents we knew she had. But sure as life itself: the lessons never stop, the learning never ends, and the tests will keep on coming. Karen's family would like to extend thanks to all those who offered Karen assistance over the years, most notably during the last decade she spent in bed at various Milwaukee-area nursing homes. This includes everyone at Bayside Manor, Horizon Health Care, Cameo Care, Allay Home & Hospice, and her shopper Becky. We also wish to thank Joe and Jay at Prasser-Kleczka Funeral home. You went above and beyond with exceptional care. Thanks to all of you and your organizations for choosing to serve others. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, a small donation can be made in Karen's name to her beloved educational resources: Wisconsin Public Television or Wisconsin Public Radio. People wishing to contact the family directly with special memories can email us at: kwhayward39@gmail.com