A tribute to Karen

SXSMAN

I never met Karen or Steve (sck) for that matter,but after reading the following story,I'm sorry I didn't.What a grand lady.The world I fear in alittle worse off now with her untimely death.Many people go through life and never meet their soul mate,Steve was fortunate to have met her.May we all be so lucky.Steve and Karen,you'r in my prayers.Karen Ruth Kruger Kottsy built UC library collectionBy Ben L KaufmanThe Cincinnati Enquirer (September 4, 2001)Karen Ruth Kruger Kottsy whose passion for libraries began in third grade and carried her to professional prominence, died Wednesday at her Pleasant Ridge home. She was 56 and had Lou Geh-rig's Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Mrs. Kottsy was the first government documents librarian at the University of Cincinnati. There, she built the collection and delighted in making the records as interesting to others as they were to her. Mrs. Kottsy worked in her Batavia, N.Y., high school library and went on to earn a master's in library science. Her fascination with government documents began during college, her husband, Steven, said on Monday. Initially, there was the unique numbering system used by the U.S. Superintendent of Documents, "a system that only government bureaucrats understood." Mrs. Kottsy loved a challenge. "She saw libraries in general as a big treasure house where you could answer any mystery if you could find your way through the maze. The hardest hunt was among the government documents." But it was more than that, her husband and former assistant said. "She was terribly excited and enthralled by our system of government and participatory democracy.... This was public knowledge that would help people be better citizens and it was the responsibility of government to make this 'information available." Among her special interests was the census; any question that required data from any U.S. census was hers Mrs. Kottsy to answer. After graduate school, Karen Kruger became librarian at Maryville (Tenn.) College, where she was mentor to students and encouraged them to follow her profession. However, she had to find a larger, research library to indulge her passion for government documents, and that brought her to UC in 1970. A few years later, Steven Kottsy was wondering about a library career and asked for the "worst job possible." The person doing the interviewing said without hesitation, "government documents." If that didn't put him off, it might be the right choice, he recalled. Librarian Karen Kruger hired him for grunt work among the documents but after a few months, illness knocked him out and he quit. She called to find out when he was coming back, and when he said he wasn't, her response was, "Good. Then we can go out." About 18 months later, they married. He described his wife as an independent woman, committed to success on her own terms, "who thought she'd never get married." Dr. Kottsy said he apparently didn't threaten those values, so began two happy decades of married life "and I thought I'd haveanother 20 years at least . . . " In addition to the library and other campus service, Mrs. Kottsy was active in regional and national professional organizations. She was a founder and president of the Ohio Government Documents Round table and recipient of its award for contributions to her profession. Her historian husband, who earned his Ph.D. at UC, said Mrs. Kottsy "particularly enjoyed participating in the annual meetings of the U.S. Printing Office in Washington, D.C." She also organized countless workshops and meetings to popularize the collecting and use of these documents. Mrs. Kottsy was a volunteer with the now-defunct City of Cincinnati's municipal documents library, Cincinnati Zoo, the Cincinnati Historical Society, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County and genealogical organizations. Failing health limited her activities, but she continued at UC until she became too ill in April. Her is also survived by her brother Paul Kruger, of Boston and San Francisco. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. today at Staley-Crowe Funeral Home, 7140 Plainfield Rd., Deer Park, followed by a memorial service Another visitation and the funeral will be Friday at the H.E. Turner Funeral Home in Batavia, N.Y. Mrs. Kottsy will be buried in East Bethany, N.Y.Memorials: Karen R. Kruger Kottsy Memorial Book Fund, LangSam Library, UC, 45221, or Scratching Post Cat Adoption Center, 6958 Plainfield Rd., Cincinnati 45236.

timberbeast

I doff my hat, and bow my head. Why always the good ones??..............................

win37

Thank you for this post.Steve and I met on this forum prior to Karen becoming ill. In his email informing me of her passing, he still took the time to ask how my mother is doing. He is aware that she lives alone and has offered to help out any way he can.May God bless and comfort him.

.280 freak

Amen. You are still in our thoughts, Steve.

timberbeast

To the top for good folks!

sck

Dear Folks:Thank you all very much for your kind words and support. Karen once confided in me that her biggest disappointment in life was that she had not accomplished enough to have her obituary appear in the New York Times. I am positive that the notice you have taken of her and her work far exceeds any recognition she could have received elsewhere. I am trying to make my way home from the funeral in New York. So far, I've managed to get as far as Cleveland. It was a great comfort to find your postings. Once again, thank you. Steve

.280 freak

Old post.

Just brought this to the top for Toyboy.


Edited by - .280 freak on 07/28/2002 20:11:11

homer4

Karen, certainly deserves memmorializing.
Good deal!

"...Abby someone""Abby who"..."Abby Normal"

airborne

Accomplished alot in a mere 56 years, will remember her in my prayers.

B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze