Karen M. Held, 81, St. Cloud

July 18, 1942 - June 12, 2024

Karen Marie Held, age 81, St. Cloud, MN passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 at Serenity Place on 7th Assisted Living in St. Joseph, MN.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 11:00 AM at Benson Funeral Home Chapel, St. Cloud, MN. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service on Saturday at the funeral home. Burial will be in North Star Cemetery, St. Cloud, MN.

Karen was born July 18, 1942 in St. Cloud, MN to Leo J. and Eleanor F. (Behrendt) Schmidtbauer. She married Richard E. Held on September 16, 1961. Karen was a member of Redeemer Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, MN. She was employed by Mills Fleet Farm in the clothing department.

Karen enjoyed gardening, garage sales, watching soap operas, shopping trips and time spent with her family, especially her grandchildren. She also had a very special place in her heart for her dogs.

Survivors include her sons, Barry (Delphine) Held of Waite Park, Brice Held of St. Cloud, Troy (Lezlee) Held of Sartell, and Todd (Mary) Held of St. Cloud; grandchildren, Matthew, Joshua, Brenna, and Evan; sisters Diane Voss and Leona (Bob) Skillingstad; and brothers, Lyle (Kim) Schmidtbauer and Leon (Gayla) Schmidtbauer.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Richard on November 21, 2020, infant son, Kirk in 1964, infant grandson Jeremy Held, and sister Ione O’Leary.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff of Serenity Place on 7th for the help they provided Karen the last 2 years and to the staff of St. Croix Hospice for the wonderful care they provided Karen over the last weeks of her life.