Karen Carpenter Whitney, 61, passed away at her home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on May 10, 2024. Born on December 21, 1962, at Brady Maternity Hospital in Albany, NY, she was the daughter of Sandra T. Carpenter and the late David J. Carpenter of Chestertown, NY and Adirondack, NY.
Karen grew up in Chestertown, NY, and was a graduate of North Warren Central School. As a young child she also lived in Niskayuna, NY, and Huntington Beach, CA, before her family eventually settled in Chestertown. While in high school Karen was an honor student and excellent athlete, earning numerous awards for field hockey, softball, and basketball at North Warren. She also played flute in the high school band. She loved the outdoors and enjoyed growing up in the Adirondacks. She was a very accomplished skier who also enjoyed horseback riding, swimming, boating, traveling and spending time with her grandchildren.
Upon graduating from high school, Karen attended Siena College for a year before transferring to Adirondack Community College (ACC) in Queensbury, NY, to study nursing, a career pursuit which fit her caring nature and desire to help others perfectly.
Upon graduating with honors from ACC’s Nursing Program, Karen accepted a position at Champlain Valley Physician’s Hospital (CVPH) in Plattsburgh, NY, where she worked as an R.N. for almost 30 years. Over her successful nursing career at CVPH she worked in many hospital settings, including critical/intensive care, post-Anesthesia care, the medical/surgical unit, and GI/Ambulatory Surgery. She was certified in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support. Following her years of service at CVPH, during which she received numerous accolades for the high level of care she provided, she started work as a home-healthcare nurse. She immensely enjoyed that role, caring for and helping her patients, who were primarily children and young adults with medically complex conditions, right up until the time of her death.
Besides her father, she was pre-deceased by her husband of 25 years, Scott J. Whitney. She and Scott lived for many years in Peru, NY, near to where they worked and where they raised a family.
Survivors include her two children, Noelle Lynn Whitney-Currier (James) and Benjamin Joseph Whitney (Shelby), and their children Scott James Currier, Reese Sandra Whitney, Luke Joseph Whitney, and Terrance John (TJ) McGurk, all of Colorado Springs, Colorado; her mother, Sandra T. Carpenter, of Adirondack, NY, and five siblings: David Carpenter (Mary) of Adirondack, NY, Mark Carpenter (Brenda) of Adirondack, NY, Andrew Carpenter (Loretta) of Chestertown, NY, Paul Carpenter (Anne Marie) of Sherman, NY, and Lynne Carpenter-Jenkins (Paul) of Glens Falls, NY, along with 14 nieces and nephews and 11 great-nieces and nephews, plus many aunts, uncles, cousins, and very close and dear friends.
Family and friends are invited to celebrate Karen’s life at a gathering at the P-House in Chestertown, NY, on Saturday, May 25th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Donations in Karen’s memory may be made to the SPCA of Upstate New York.
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