Wanda Karen Bainbridge
"Be still and know that I am God."
Wanda Karen Bainbridge, 67, slipped the bonds of Earth and into the eternities to join her Father in Heaven on Saturday, 2 January 2021, 2 weeks shy of her 68th birthday. She was surrounded by the family she loved, her greatest earthly treasure, at the time of her passing.
Karen was born to Joseph and Barbara Pehrson at Fort Devens, Massachusetts on 16 January 1953. While her father was in the Army she lived in Massachusetts and Pacific Grove, California. After the Korean War and her family’s reunification, she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. As a teenager her family moved to Germany where she met the love of her life, Richard Philip Bainbridge.
For a short period, she was separated from Richard while she attended Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. They married and were sealed for time and all eternity in in the Manti, Utah Temple on 20 April 1973. Richard was in the Air Force and they traveled the world. Karen loved these adventures and passed this love on to her children. They lived in Sumter, South Carolina; Woomera, Australia; Layton and Kearns, Utah; Siegelbach and Schwedlebach, West Germany; Sumter and Summerville, South Carolina; El Centro, California; Elizabethtown, Kentucky; Westminster, Colorado; and ultimately settled in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Karen’s greatest joy was her family, and she chose to fill her home with pictures and reminders of these treasures. She worked tirelessly to design and create unique and individual quilts for her 37 grandchildren.
All who knew Karen loved her. She had a unique gift of not only talking with but truly understanding others. She could always be found serving and uplifting others, even in times of her greatest trials. She exuded the unconditional love of the Savior.
Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph James and Barbara Jean (Roskelley); her mother-in-law, Marie Bainbridge (Wagner); a sister-in-law, Veronica Pehrson (Roberts); and a nephew, Anthony Pehrson. She is survived by her husband of 48 years, Richard, and six children and their spouses: Robert and Wanda Husted of Dodgeville, Wisconsin; Joey (Joseph) and Carlie Bainbridge of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Philip and Hannah Bainbridge of Dodgeville, Wisconsin; Michael and Desi (Desiree) Rogers of Westminster, Colorado; Daniel and Cherstin (Sara) Hamblin of Valdosta, Georgia; and Thomas and Felicia Bibber of Rock Springs, Wyoming. She also held dear 37 grandchildren whom she knew and loved: Joseph, Rebekah, Rachel, Ben, Mary, Sam, Ruth, Moroni, Adam, Hyrum, Joshua, and Eve (Wanda), Gideon, Glory, Scarlett, Levi, and Reah (Joey), Orion, William, Oliver, Winston, and Samantha (Philip), Emily, Mordecai, Ruby, Ivy, and Milly (Desi), Abby, Emmett, Eleanor, Lorenzo, Hyrum, and Heidi (Cherstin), Noah, Georgia, Belle, and Bonnie (Felicia). She was also doted on by her five brothers: Michael (Shauna), Brad (Alexis), Derk (Julia), James (Maria), and Chad Pehrson all of the Salt Lake Valley, Utah.
The family will receive friends Saturday, January 9, 2021 from 10 – 11am at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 140 S. Jefferson Circle, Oak Ridge. The funeral will begin at 11 am with Bishop Daniel Tobler officiating. Interment at Oak Ridge Memorial Park will follow. Weatherford Mortuary is handling the arrangements. An online guestbook can be signed at www.weatherfordmortuary.com.
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