Karen Dauer, who is the fairly new owner of Sleepy Eye Floral and Design, has had a lifetime of experiences outside the flower business. These experiences range far and wide, including raising six kids, writing a book about the loss of her husband, and sharing hope with members of 43 churches while on a speaking tour.
For 29 years, Karen lived with her husband Luther in rural Hanska. While there, Karen and Luther raised their six children, five boys and one girl. Karen explained that her full-time job was working in the home, but she did find time to go back to college and receive her master’s degree in counseling and psychology from Mankato State University.
It was only a few years after finishing her degree that she experienced the loss of her husband. He was driving truck outside of Chicago when another semi flipped over and hit him head on. “That was the worst Christmas of my life,” Karen recalled.
After this accident, Karen began to reassess her life. She took on a few new ventures, including a job at Olen Mills, where for ten years Karen worked with her son to create and sell church directories. It was also around this time that she began to dabble in the floral business, opening Karen’s Kreations in Hanska.
“My goal was to specialize in the unique,” Karen explained. “I hope to bring that idea here to Sleepy Eye.”
Four years after her husband’s fatal crash, Karen got remarried to a man she met while leading a New Beginnings class at the Schoenstatt center. Fred had gone through a divorce and was looking for a fresh start, and so was Karen. Although she dearly loves her new husband, Karen said things can be tough. “It is hard to go to weddings and such,” she explained. “It’s not his daughter, not his son – it’s mine.”
While dealing with all this change – the loss of her husband, new jobs, and eventually getting remarried – Karen spent a lot of time reflecting on her situation. “Loss and change is a difficult thing in our society,” she said. “I realized there were a lot of people struggling with loss and change.”
To help those around her who were dealing with similar situations to her own, Karen began to write down her thoughts. These writings eventually turned into her book “Down on the Farm,” which was published in 1993.
This book is basically her life story up until the time of her husband’s death. She recalls her childhood years, life raising six kids, her husband’s death and God’s faithfulness through it all. It includes both poems and narrative segments, some sections even written by her children.
Following the publication of this book, Karen began to speak throughout Minnesota at various Evangelical Lutheran churches. She led talks for women about dealing with loss and change while keeping godly perspective. Eventually, she got the chance to speak in 43 different churches.
“All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes,” Karen explained. “I always expect that whatever happens, God won’t give me more than I can handle.”
Karen shares with people that they need to look at things through the bigger picture of eternity. At times we just need to wait and see what happens, she explained, and sometimes we won’t get any answers on this side of heaven.
Also very important to Karen is her family, which now includes 11 children, 21 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She is very proud of her Christian faith which she has passed on to her kids – one is a pastor, another a missionary and still another a pastor’s wife.
Last week, customers may have noticed a sign on the floral shop door saying “Gone Fishing.” That’s because she really did take some time off to go fishing with one of her sons. “Children and family are more important than any job or business,” Karen said.
