"And though she be but little, she is fierce."

It is with shattered hearts that we share with you the tragic passing of Karen Schoenwetter. Karen passed away Thursday evening after succumbing to two cardiac arrests, kidney failure and other complications; she had been in the hospital twice this last month in a brave and valiant fight with MELAS, (Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis, and Stroke-like episodes), a rare and cruel syndrome that  mostly affects the nervous system and muscles.  (**This GoFundMe, revised 5/23/2020, has been re-opened for funds for Karen’s funeral expenses. Please continue to read more.**)

 
When tragedy strikes our family, friends or loved ones, we do our best to support and provide the nurturing needed ... and when tragedy strikes a family multiple times, we must rally together to help bring hope and light to their excessive hardships. We hope you find it in your hearts to help.


 
For those unaware, Karen was diagnosed with MELAS in 2008 and suffered multiple seizures and strokes, hearing and balance loss, and motor skill deterioration. Yet, if you were to visit with Karen in recent years, she would still make you laugh hysterically, call you by your nickname, rave about her most-recent hair coloring (as she was always wanting to look cute!), tell you how she was right about something and people were crazy (in the KK way) and recall some funny story that you hadn't thought about in years.
 

Karen was a graduate of Gulliver Prep and WashU (Washington University in St. Louis) and moved to New York City early on in her fashion design career. Finally finding her niche in handbag design, she had stints in Detroit (her KMart days) and Dallas (where she also lived with Jeff for a time). When she returned home to Miami she worked in fashion merchandising for a number of years until balance and motor problems became too much. Still, you'd find her always at the ready for a house party, a celebratory hibachi dinner at Samurai, having a rum and Coke when good friends stopped by (and eating! This pint-sized firecracker could EAT!), and always being around her dogs and immediate family. Hopefully, you recall Karen's insane handbag and mask collection, her love of the beach and 'baking in the sun' in her tiny bikinis, her fashion magazines, her girlfriends and her unbreakable closeness with all of Jeff's best buddies. (Many of you may also have noticed her Facebook posts over the past year or so as she reconnected with childhood friends and kept tabs on their social and family happenings. It brought Karen such joy to see the world through others' eyes ... as she couldn't participate as much as she used to.)
 

Sadly, Karen's brother, Jeff, died only 12 months ago at the age of 41, also from MELAS complications, and older sister Debbie passed away a little more than a year before that. For all the Schoenwetter children, this disease stole from them the active lifestyle they craved and loved, and it simply isn't fair that they suffered so much. 


In caring for the children for two decades, mother Ginni closed her businesses to assist in full time home health care for her children in various stages of the disease, and to also care for her mother, Norma (or as many of us know her as Granny), who also passed away last year. This began a downward spiral of financial, emotional and physical stress on the entire family. 


As you'd imagine, covering the extraordinary costs of home health care and expenses not covered by disability and medical insurance has been extremely difficult, especially since they also came after all the kids' private school education and college costs. Expenses ran high with health care, loans and second mortgages were made, and the family has barely managed to cover all necessity expenses (not to mention the fact that Ginni is currently recovering from a Total Hip operation and rehab, and Abbie has medical issues and recent near-blindness which is making transportation near impossible). 

 
And now, Ginny and Abbie have to plan and pay for the unconscionable: laying their third and last child to rest and attempting to resurrect some kind of normalcy, if ever possibly given their devastating losses. Through all the trials and duration of the siblings' failing health, Ginni volunteered over the years and remained active with UMDF (United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation). Abbie, as we all know, would do anything for you. Collectively, the Schoenwetters were like a 'second family' for all of us. It is absolutely urgent and imperative we act as a community of support to help Abbie and Ginni.


Please note: we have updated the same GoFundMe campaign since Jeff's passing -- and the total raised last year to cover his funeral and other expenses was $20,000. We're hoping to raise another $25,000, now, which is why the old total remains and why we have increased our goal to reflect '$45,000 '(which would be from adding this current plea for donations.) We humbly ask you to find it in your heart to donate today, helping the Schoenwetter parents pull through this crisis and create a new financial start. We are grateful and appreciative for your time reading this story. 

 
Thank you in advance for any and all donations made to this fund. When memorial arrangements have been made, we will update here, and will post pictures and videos here and on Facebook.


~Hope and Love for the Schoenwetter Family~


"Whenever there is a human in need, There is an opportunity for kindness and to make a difference."  

To learn more about MELAS, research and how to support, please visit websites below.

https://www.umdf.org/ 

https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/melas-syndrome/