Friends remember Karen Wallman
EL CENTRO – The El Centro community and beyond is morning the sudden death of Karen Wallman, a longtime educator and community volunteer. The 74-year-old El Centro resident died Tuesday of a heart attack.
Wallman was fondly remembered by many as a longtime home economics teacher at Wilson Junior High, as well as a dedicated volunteer and member of local service clubs and charitable organizations.
Wallman’s sudden death came as a complete surprise and shock to fellow The Salvation Army board member Sedalia Sanders.
Sanders, a former El Centro City Council and Elementary School District board member, said she had come to know Wallman through the years and was duly impressed by her dedication to public service.
That community service had included preparing food and volunteering for The Salvation Army’s annual Thanksgiving luncheon and Christmas toy giveaway.
“In many respects, she was truly an individual who was a strong community advocate and worked for those who are less fortunate,” Sanders said. “She leaves a rich legacy and in that regard she will be missed.”
Part of that legacy includes the 32 years she had taught home economics at Wilson Junior High School, until her retirement in 2004.
Former student, El Centro Councilman and fellow Kiwanis Club member Alex Cardenas said he remembers Wallman as a “wonderful and passionate” educator who had a positive impact on the lives of countless Valley youth.
Following her 2004 retirement, Wallman had devoted an increased amount of her time volunteering with the charitable organizations she held dear, including the Kiwanis, Cardenas said
Recently, she had helped man the club’s Fourth of July firework booth, the proceeds of which went toward funding community youth projects.
“She was quite passionate about helping children in our community,” Cardenas said.
The El Centro native was also a lifelong member of First United Methodist Church in El Centro, where she was actively involved in its women’s luncheon and making prayer blankets as part of the church’s quilting ministry.
“She was always looking for ways that we could help people in the community,” said Pastor Ron Griffen.
The church is currently in the process of arranging her memorial services, which are likely to take place in the near future to better allow Wallman’s extended family across the country to attend, Griffen said.
Plans call for Wallman to be interred alongside of her deceased parents, Paul and Betty Hansen, as well as her brothers Ross and John Hansen, at Evergreen Cemetery, Griffen said.
Wallman had lived on the cemetery grounds during her childhood as a result of her father being its superintendent.
“She’s kind of going back home in a way,” Griffen said.
Fellow Methodist, Kiwanis Club officer and lifelong friend Robertta Burns said Wallman was a woman of many talents who enjoyed being of service to the community.
“If there was a project, she was right in the middle of it,” Burns said. “And if there was a potluck, she was going to bring something.”
Aside from the Methodist church, Kiwanis and the Salvation Army, Wallman was also involved with the local 4-H club as well as the local and Yuma chapters of the Order of the Eastern
Star, a Masonic Lodge affiliate.
Wallman was a caring person who not in the least standoffish, and someone who enjoyed her privacy as much as the company of others, Burns said.
Her embrace of kindred spirits had also compelled Wallman to visit other Kiwanis clubs throughout Southern California to get to know its members, Burns said.
“She was always a pretty independent person,” Burns said.