Karen Madsen

Karen Jensine Ditlefsen Madsen, 97, a resident of Bettendorf for many years, passed away peacefully on November 9, 2012, at the Manor Care Utica Ridge Nursing Home in Davenport with her daughter and her beloved friend Grace Tuttle by her side.

Karen was born in Jystrup, Denmark, on July 30, 1915, one of six children of Anna and Lars Ditlefsen.  She married Arne Dyrlov Madsen on December 12, 1943 in Jystrup, Denmark, in the church where she had been baptized and confirmed and where their daughter was also baptized. Karen and her husband and daughter  left Copenhagen, Denmark, to emigrate to the United States in the late fall of 1950.  They lived in Duluth, Minnesota, before moving to Chicago, Illinois, in 1952, and then to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1957, where they lived until 1966, when they moved to Davenport, Iowa, and then to Bettendorf in 1967.  Karen and her family became United States citizens in 1956.

During most of her adult life, Karen was a homemaker, who was very involved in her local communities via Girl Scouting, various school PTAs, Welcome Wagon, and a variety of philanthropic organizations.  For many years, she was part of the arts and crafts Creative Workshop that made beautiful items to raise money for a Davenport hospital.  She enjoyed travel with her husband and with her friends both in the United States and abroad. Books, current events, bridge, and taking care of her family occupied much of her time, as well.  She cared very much for her family, friends, and neighbors and could always be counted upon to step in when there was a need.

Her husband of almost 68 years died in August of 2011.  She is survived by her daughter, Birgitte Flanders, and her son-in-law, Alden Flanders, both of North Andover, Massachusetts, her granddaughter, Margrethe Flanders and her husband, Aaron Lamb, of Malden, Massachusetts, her grandson, Christian Flanders, of New York City, her sister-in-law, Else Matheisen, of Denmark, her niece, Kirsten Ditlev Jensen, of Denmark, and other more distant family in Denmark.  Karen’s caregiver and friend, Grace Tuttle, and Grace’s family were as close as family to Karen in her last years.

A memorial service will be held at the McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Home, 644 River Drive, Bettendorf, on Saturday, February 9, 2013, at 11 a.m.  Burial will be this Spring at Woodlawn Cemetery in Princeton, Massachusetts.

Memorial donations may be made to the Danish Immigrant Museum, 2212 Washington St., Elk Horn, Iowa 51331 and www.dkmusen.org or The Salvation Army, 301 W 6 ^th St., Davenport, IA 52803 and www.salvationarmy.org .

Online condolences may be expressed to the family by visiting Karen’s obituary at www.McGinnis-Chambers.com.