Karen Stuart Fonda

Karen Lee (Stuart) Fonda was born on May 28, 1961, in Plymouth, MI, to Roy Knudson Stuart and Elaine Marie (Peterson) Stuart. She was the youngest of three children, with an older sister, Teri Ann Stuart, and an older brother, Jeffery Franklin Stuart. From a young age, much to the annoyance of her sister, Karen was known as a troublemaker. To this day, when you ask Teri about her Barbie Malibu Beach house, you are met with a sigh of frustration—safe to say it’s still a sore subject. Karen’s love of dogs (German Shepherds specifically) blossomed as a child, when she would feed treats to the neighbor’s dog, Lady, through the shared fence. 

After the family moved to Angola, IN, she met her childhood best friend, Lori Gecowets. During high school, Karen was a member of the flag corps and received numerous awards for her stellar performance. She graduated high school in the spring of 1979 with plans to attend college in the fall, majoring in business. Tragically, she lost her brother in the fall of 1979. She took some time to figure out what she wanted to do in life and eventually decided on moving out to Colorado—something her brother would have wanted. While in Colorado, she enjoyed skiing, hiking, camping, and the occasional barhopping when she wasn’t working as a banker. It was at one of these bars that she met the eventual father of her children, Harold Fonda. They dated for several years before getting married shortly after moving to Danville, PA. Karen had her first child, Jeffery Neil Fonda, in the fall of 1994. She felt honored to name him after her late brother. After a few more years and another move to Pullman, WA, she had her second child, Alison Elaine Fonda. Karen would say she finally settled in after a final move to Ferndale, WA, in April of 2000.

Shortly after moving to Ferndale, she met her second-best friend, Michelle Scott. Once her children started attending elementary school, she frequently volunteered in their classrooms and served as treasurer of the PTO. After her separation and eventual divorce in 2010, Karen began working at McClary Swift & Co. as a bookkeeper. She took pride in her work and attention to detail. In her free time, she would host parties with friends, work on her house while jamming out to ‘70s and ‘80s hairband rock music, and travel when she could. 

After the passing of her father in the spring of 2018 and her mother in the winter of 2022, she changed her name to Karen Stuart Fonda, proud to be a Stuart—a name that, to her, meant toughness and hospitality. Tragically, Karen passed away unexpectedly early in the morning on September 7, 2024. She is survived by her two children, Jeffery Fonda (Kiley Nettesheim) and Alison Fonda, as well as her sister, Teri Stuart Wegmann, and her two nieces, Jennifer Wegmann-Gabb (James Gabb) and Brittany Wegmann (Jason Yuhasz).

 In lieu of flowers or other gifts, the family suggests a donation to a Humane Society of your choosing.

Services will be held on Sunday, September 15th at Westford Funeral Home (1301 Broadway, Bellingham, WA) as follows: 11:30am open-casket visitation, 12:30pm closed-casket funeral, and lunch reception following. She will be laid to rest at a private service at a later date.