Karen Randall Hall

Karen Randall Hall passed away at the age of 81 on August 26, 2023, at Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, Oregon, in the presence of her husband Roger, sons Paul and Bill, daughter Kathryn, son-in-law Michael, and granddaughter Kaylin. Born October 26, 1941, in Oakland, CA, she and her identical twin sister Donna were adopted on December 6, 1941, by Carl and Pauline Ellertson of Palo Alto, CA.

After graduating from “Paly” High School in 1959, she attended the University of Maine for a year. There she met and married Greenfield Augustus “Gus” Randall. After his graduation, the couple moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area. They had three children: Paul, Bill, and Kathy. Karen was a member of St. Marks Episcopalian Church in Palo Alto. She was especially proud of being a joint founder of PACER (Post Adoption Center for Education and Research). Through PACER, she located her biological parents, forming a firm bond with her biological mother and family.

After Karen and Gus divorced in the early 80s, she returned to college at San Jose State University and received a BA in psychology. While there, she met her future husband, Roger Hall, when taking a philosophy class from him. She continued her education at Santa Clara University, receiving an MA in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling in 1986. Upon graduation, she first worked at CASA SAY, then became a counselor for the severely mentally ill at Santa Clara County Mental Health in San Jose, from where she later retired. She was a member of the American Association of University Women.

Karen and Roger married on May 30, 1994. After retirement in September 2006, the couple moved to the Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls, the community Karen herself selected and loved dearly. Over the next seventeen years, they traveled extensively through-out the western half of the United States and a portion of the northeastern part. Her fondest trips were to Alaska, where she got to see the Northern Lights, and to Maine where she was able to visit old haunts of her younger days.

Karen, is survived by her husband Roger, her daughter Kathryn and son-in-law Michael of Klamath Falls, her son Paul and daughter-in-law Janna of Fort Worth, TX, and William Randall and daughter-in-law Karen of Flower Mound, TX. She also leaves behind seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild, one niece and three nephews. She is preceded in death by both parents, her twin sister Donna Able and brother-in-law Tony Able. Cascade Cremation & Burial will oversee her cremation, the ashes of which will be buried beneath her beloved plum tree in the couple’s front yard.