Karen Benthul

Karen Sue Benthul was born on November 16, 1952, in Amarillo, Texas. She was the daughter of R.S. (Dude) and Helen Florine Nutt and the sister to Ronnie Earl, Larry Dale, Johnny Lynn, Eddy Wayne and David Glen Nutt. She was a loving mother, daughter and sister. She grew up in Dumas, Texas and moved to Greenville, Texas where she graduated from Greenville High School in 1970. She was offered a full scholarship to West Texas State University but attended Eastfield College in Mesquite where she obtained an Associates degree. She married Perry Alan Benthul in January 9, 1971, and they had two children, James Harrison and Gwendolyn Helen. Karen and her family moved around the country when Perry served in the Army eventually settling in Mesquite, Texas and finally in Quinlan, Texas. Karen Sue was called Sue as a child but started using the name Karen in high school. Her family still addresses her as Sue but she is known as Karen to everyone else. Karen worked for the Mesquite Library and Dallas Library and was an avid reader and excellent speller. Karen was able to pick up foreign languages easily and was admired for her singing and choir service. Karen worked on her own vehicles and was an excellent shot. Karen was a fan of the Cowboys football team and loved to watch NASCAR races and would narrate both by phone to Perry when he was on the road driving. Her Mother Florine says that her Daughter Sue was always more worried about everyone else over herself even though Sue was ill. Sue had be ill for a number of years yet she was more worried about her other family members who were all in better health than herself. Sue would insist that no one came to visit her when she was in the hospital because she didnt want them to get sick. Gwendolyn says she remembers once when a man had told her mother that she had the perfect name Karen because she was such a caring person. Karen sang all of the time and she had an incredible voice and never missed a note. Karen was offered a scholarship to West Texas State University for her singing abilities. Karen often made ones and won UIL competitions in school. Gwendolyn said that her mother Karen was made to sing over the other members in church by the song leader because she could enhance the others singing with her voice. Karen told stories of how she was made to sing solo in front of the congregation at church when she was a small child. Karen had once been talked into singing Wake up Little Suzy for her hymnal by one of the kids from church one Sunday morning when she was around four. Karen sang all of the time. You could always find her singing. Karen could pick up any ball and hit the mark she was throwing at, and the same with darts, Karen hit the bulls with each attempt. Karen could also shoot a firearm and hit her target every time. Karens Father-in-law had her shoot the snakes and turtles out of the ponds at the farm because she never missed and she didnt waste ammo. Her husband Perry remembers that while they were stationed at Fort Hood that Brenda and Cleve (friends from base) were attempting to shoot cans off a fence with a 22 pistol that Cleve had just recently purchased. None of them could hit any of the cans, but when Karen came out she shot all the cans off the fence on the first try. Karen repaired and maintained her own vehicles. Her daughter Gwendolyn remembers Karen pulling her Trans Am into the front yard and laying under the vehicle to work on it. Gwendolyn said that she and James would spray her feet and legs with the water hose and Karen would say it helped keep her cool. Her husband Perry said that he and Karen had been vacationing in Arkansas and were driving down a state highway when it suddenly turned into a rock road. Perry noticed that they were losing gas fast so they pulled over at a gas station that they had found. They discovered that a rock had knocked a hole into the gas tank. Karen gave Perry a screw and he plugged the hole but had nothing to seal it with. Karen told him to use bubble gum and gave him the piece she was chewing. They were able to get back to Texas with the make shift repair and discovered that the hole was still plugged. They traded that car still repaired with Karens gum three years later. Karen was extremely gifted when it came to language. Karen started reading at three. She could read extremely fast and would checkout as many as 20 library books and have all of them read within the week. She could spell any word out loud correctly and effortlessly every time. Karen learned French in school, German while Perry was in the Army and Spanish when Gwendolyn was learning for her work with the INS. French was the only language that Karen actually made an attempt to learn while in high school. Karen read to the children at the library during childrens reading hour. We made multiple trips to the various libraries Karen had a membership to and when Perry came along he could be found yawning hugely amongst the books or looking at the videos available to be checked out while Karen would be attempting to check out more books than she was allowed at one time and by using the rest of our library cards. Karen could type 130 words a minute with and 105 with no mistakes when she was in her prime. Her niece Barbara said she remembers her high school picture on Grandma's dresser. Barbara always thought she was so beautiful, and had such pretty dark hair. Barbara remembers being with James and Gwendolyn as kids running around Aunt Sues house in Mesquite, playing super heroes with bath towels that Aunt Sue would tie on for us to use as capes. Aunt Sue told stories about Grandma and Grandpa and our uncles. Aunt Sue was so imaginative, animated and vivid and read us books. Aunt Sue and Uncle Perry would take us to the store for candy and root beer and then we would be in the back seat of the car, with Uncle Perry driving and Aunt Sue turned around talking to us and making us laugh. Barbara remembers songs like "little red riding hood" and some others from that time period playing in the car. Barbara remembers being about five and sitting in the kitchen with Aunt Sue eating a bowl of strawberries, dipped in sugar and whipped cream, and finishing a bowl of sugar with them too! Often times after school Aunt Sue would talk to her on the phone when Barbara would be alone for a little while, before her mom would get home from work. Aunt Sue called just about four or five weeks ago to tell me about a dream she had, about Barbara and her father Johnny, back around the time when we spend a lot of time together. Aunt Sue said it made her happy to think about those times when Barbara, James and Gwendolyn were little, and could just picture Barbara and Johnny and hear our voices and us laughing. Barbara remembers running around Aunt Sues house with James and Gwendolyn all in their underroos. Gwendolyn remembers that when Barbara and her decided to pretend to fly by swinging from Gwendolyns canopy bed and proceeded to break the canopy off the bed Aunt Sue made us all sit in the hallway in time out. Karen always had gum and mints on her and many of them went to her nieces and nephews. Her niece Debbie said that Aunt Sue was like a mother to her when she was growing up, reading Dr. Seuss to her and her brother Michael, taking us to look at Christmas lights and letting us eat her provolone cheese whenever we wanted. Debbie loves that any time she can smell library books, she thinks of Aunt Sue. Debbie says when I spend time with my nieces and nephews, I hope they love me as much as I loved her . Debbie said that she was lucky enough to speak with Aunt Sue a few months ago and share her favorite memories of her and tell her that she loved and missed her, but she still wish she had one more moment with Aunt Sue. Debbie says take the time to say I love you today and every day, even if youve already said it. You never know when youll wish you had one more moment. Karens niece Annie remembers coming to stay with Uncle Perry and Aunt Sue right after they moved to Quinlan and Aunt Sue fixed Annie her first cup of coffee she ever had and she didnt like it but was too embarrassed to say anything so kept trying to drink it. Annie thinks that Aunt Sue could tell that she didnt like the coffee and fixed her a cup of hot cocoa. Annie loved it and drank it right up. Annie says that Aunt Sue was so proud of her new house and gave her the grand tour and told her of her plans for the new place. Aunt Sue also gave Annie her first container of bubble bath and a new jewelry box for Christmas one year. Karens friend Stephanie Shaw met Karen when she was nineteen about twenty two years ago. Karen and Perry were friends of her mother. Stephanie remembers Karen always checking in on her because of her poor health and that they had become good friends. Stephanie said she considers Karen to be her second mother and believed that she is the only person to ever tell her that she really loved her. Stephanie said she doesnt remember her mother or sister ever telling her that they loved her but that Karen told her that she loved her every time they spoke. Her son-in-law Kenneth remembers that she always had an encouraging word and they enjoyed watching movies together and discussing books that they were reading or just spend an evening talking. He remembers that she always listened to and laughed at what Gwendolyn referred to as his silly stories and she would regularly add to them to keep the humor going. Her niece Rhonda said that Aunt Sue loved to spend time with her nieces and nephews. Rhonda says she always had fun at Aunt Sue and Uncle Perrys house as a kid. Rhonda said that Aunt Sue taught her how to make pancakes when she was young. Aunt Sue said that you had to let the little bubbles pop before you try to flip it over. She is survived by her husband Perry Benthul; children James Harrison Benthul and Gwendolyn Helen Benthul; mother Helen Florine Tindel and brothers Ronnie Earl, Johnny Lynn and David Glen Nutt and was preceded into death by her father R.S. (Dude) Nutt and her brothers Larry Dale and Eddy Wayne Nutt. Graveside services will be held May 9, 2012 at 10:00 AM.