Karen Lynn Forbes Fisher, 57, of Hampton, passed away Friday, January 11, 2019, at Sycamore Shoals Hospital. She was born February 7, 1961 in Elizabethton.
Karen was a retired school teacher, having taught 23 years in Carter and Johnson counties. She was a graduate of Hampton High School. She received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education in 1985 from East Tennessee State University and a Masters of Education, Special Education in 1996. Her activities include Student Teacher Education Association (STEA), Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, mentor teacher, student teaching mentor teacher, Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society, and served as Historian, Vice-President and President of Kappa Delta Pi. Her Notable Awards include the Shulman Family Foundation Scholarship Award, David Kent Miller Scholarship Award, Dean’s List and Magna Cum Laude graduate. She also had previously worked at the Elizabethton Library. She was a member of the National Education Association, the Carter County Education Association, and the Tennessee Education Association. Karen was a member of Valley Forge Free Will Baptist Church where she sang in the choir prior to her illness.
She was preceded in death by her grandparents, William “Will” and Florence Forbes and Carl and Rosetta Babb; her step-dad, Bob Laws; and her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Vaughn and Elsie Fritts.
Survivors include her son, James Robert “Robbie” Fritts, Hampton; her mother, Charlotte Babb Laws; her father, Roy Forbes and Erma Stevens; her sisters, Linda Kay Forbes and Rosie Forbes Harwell and husband David; her brother, Clyde Edward “Ed” Forbes and wife Jennifer “Jenny”; the father of her son, James “Jim” Fritts; her “God Child,” Marina Bailey; several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins; her special friend and caregiver, Dawnella Campbell; members of the Carter County Retired Teachers; and the Multiple Myeloma Support Group.
A service to celebrate the life of Karen Fisher will be conducted at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 15, at Valley Forge Free Will Baptist Church with the Rev. Randy Johnson and the Rev. Mark Potter officiating. The family will receive friends at the church from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Music will be provided by the John Harrington Family and the Praise Choir of Valley Forge Free Will Baptist Church. The graveside service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 16, at Happy Valley Memorial Park. Music at the cemetery will be provided by Lisa Morgan. Active pallbearers, who are requested to assemble at the church at 6:55 p.m. Tuesday and also at the funeral home at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, will be Brandon Estep, James Forbes, Jacob Forbes, Jeremy Rouse, Dakota Harwell, Jimmy Sarrett, Carl Harrison and David Harwell. Honorary pallbearers will be Sam Harrison, Chris Shreve, Greg Shreve, Wes Forbes, Duane Forbes, Thomas Hamby, former co-workers and students and her church family. The family would like to express a special “Thank You” to her doctors at Vanderbilt University Hospital, Dr. Mendes, Dr. Kassim and Dr. Langone and special thanks to her brother and sister-in-law, Greg and Reba Shreve. Friends may also visit with the family at the residence of her mother, Charlotte Babb Laws. Family and friends will assemble at the funeral home at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday to go to the cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at our website, www.memorialfcelizabethton.com.
Memorial Funeral Chapel is serving the Fisher family.