Karen Jean Baumgartner, age 70, of Canaan, NH, a beloved wife and devoted mother, passed away peacefully at her home on February 15, 2023 after a 3.5-year struggle with glioblastoma brain cancer.

Karen was born in Montclair, NJ to the late John and Jeanne Baumgartner of Norwich, VT, and was raised in both Little Falls, NJ, and London, England. After graduating from the American School in London, she earned a BS at Hartwick College, NY, and an MS in Botany at Cornell University where she studied the effects of acid rain on microscopic organisms in the lakes of the Adirondacks. While working in the Pathology Department at Dartmouth Medical School, she met her husband, Bill D. Roebuck. They were married in 1980. Professionally, Karen worked as a research laboratory technician for nearly 30 years at Dartmouth.

Karen was a skilled artist working in many mediums, including watercolor, pen and ink, oils, acrylics, basketry, pysanky (batik) egg decorating, sewing, printmaking, and collage. She had a particular interest in botanical illustrations and landscapes. Karen was an enthusiastic gardener and birder. She kept detailed annual lists of plants and birds encountered at home, in the Canaan area, and on numerous trips domestically and abroad. She was a great cook, routinely collected new recipes to try, and had a pronounced sweet tooth.

Karen and Bill, sometimes with family and friends, spent many summer months on their self-planned and outfitted kayak expeditions. She and Bill paddled in a double Klepper sea kayak in waters from Alaska to coastal Nova Scotia and the northern shores of Newfoundland, Canada. Her favorite paddling expeditions were to the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay (7 trips), the west-ern coast of Quebec on Hudson Bay (3 trips). When not paddling in the North, she enjoyed shorter trips among the islands of coastal Maine.

Karen was a wonderful daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. Always kind and thoughtful of others, she was a great listener and had a silly streak. Besides her husband, Ka-ren is survived by her brother Peter Baumgartner and his wife, Nancy of Carlisle, MA; her son Colin Roebuck and his wife Eliza Howard of Springfield, NH; her daughter Hannah Broadley and her husband Sawyer of Falmouth, MA and stepdaughter Rebecca Roebuck of Waitsfield, VT, and three grandsons: Ethan, Reed, and Mason Winter.

Relatives and friends will celebrate Karen's life at a Memorial Service in the summer of 2023.

In place of flowers, donations honoring her love of reading, animals, and nature can be made to: The Canaan Town Library, PO Box 368, Canaan, NH 03741; New Hampshire Audubon, 84 Silk Farm Rd, Concord, NH 03301; or the Maine Island Trail Association, 100 Kensington St, Portland, ME 04103.