Karen James Sawyer

Karen "Karrie" James Sawyer — beloved mother, grandmother, sister, teacher, and adventurer — passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 31, 2025, surrounded by her children.

Karrie was born April 14, 1943, in Astoria, Oregon, to Dr. Malcolm Herbert Sawyer and Elinor Lorraine James and was the third of three daughters. Her life began in small-town Idaho but quickly grew adventurous: Tripoli, Libya; Glion, Switzerland; and central Belgium all became childhood backdrops. She fondly remembered riding in wagons, harvesting hay with pitchforks, riding bicycles through Europe with her sisters, and getting into the kind of mischief that still makes her family laugh.

As her sister recalls, when Karrie was just three or four, she decided that the sheep on a friend’s small farm looked like fine ponies. She somehow managed to climb aboard and ride one around — until it bucked her off and sent her to the hospital with a broken arm. True to form, she didn’t complain much, more thrilled with the adventure than worried about the fall.

By the time she was seven or eight, her enthusiasm had spread to skiing. She persuaded her parents to take all three sisters to the slopes, even though they had never skied themselves. They loved it so much that the whole family soon took up skiing, a passion that shaped their lives for decades. Karrie’s love of the sport eventually led her to become a ski instructor, and, fittingly, skiing also brought her to her husband. In college, she was crowned the “Snow Queen” one winter but instead of keeping company with the Snow King, she fell for the ski instructor — Sidney LaMarr Jenson — and the rest is history.

After high school in Las Vegas, Karrie attended Utah State University, where she studied education and eventually joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She and Sidney began a family that eventually grew to six children, while moving between Hawaii and Utah.

Settling in Wanship, Utah, Karrie created a home that blended farm life, resourcefulness, and fun. She coached her kids through raising goats, pigs, calves, and horses, and became locally famous for her midnight worm-catching expeditions, selling them to fishermen by the dozen. Summers were never complete without her shaved ice stand — a magnet for neighbors, kids, and sticky fingers. And perhaps nothing delighted her more than the epic water fights she launched with her children — spontaneous battles that soaked everyone and live on as some of their happiest memories.

She taught skiing at Park West, Alta, and Deer Valley, later transitioning to teaching school in Utah and New Mexico. Her final professional chapter at the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind showed her inventive streak: if a method didn’t exist to help her blind students, she created one. Along the way, she also trained in Watsu, massage therapy, and Jin Shin Jyutsu. At heart, Karrie was a healer — deeply spiritual, compassionate, and attentive to the ways people across cultures and traditions have sought healing for body and spirit. This openness only deepened her gratitude for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which remained the foundation of her life and faith. Her family often said she could heal with both a hug and a technique.

Grandchildren drew her back to Utah, where she was happiest surrounded by “Terrific Twos” and kindergartners. She never outgrew the joy of bubbles, tickles, duck-feeding, water fights, rock collecting, or chocolate chip cookies. Her grandkids often laugh about the way she could turn even an ordinary road trip into an adventure — the kind of escapade that left them with stories to tell for years. Just as often, they remember the hours she spent with them in the hot tub, spinning fantastical worlds full of magic and imagination, where anything was possible.

Her faith anchored her life. She served missions in India, California, and the Philippines (where she loved working in the temple), and gave countless hours at Welfare Square and in the Addiction Recovery program.

Karrie is survived by her six children: Lori Jenson (Kurt Debrouwer), Konnor Jenson (Jeff Davis), Jennifer Clark (Spencer), Shelly Jenson, Rebecca Petersen (Arthur), and Emily Miller (Sam); 17 grandchildren; and her sister, Barbara Huffman. She was preceded in death by her sister, Gail Mitchell, and two of her 19 grandchildren.

She leaves behind a legacy of humor, grit, service, and love — the kind that fills both hearts and freezers with chocolate chip anything. Her family thanks all who loved, supported, and laughed with Karrie during her extraordinary journey.

Funeral Services will be held on Monday September 8, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at Lindquist’s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Road, Layton, Utah. Friends may visit with family prior to services from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the mortuary.