Obituary for Karen N. Miller

Karen Nyla Miller, 87, passed away on June 3, 2025, at Clarkson Health Care, surrounded by loving friends.

Karen was born on July 6, 1937, in Pierre, SD, to Fred and Doris (Rollins) Fredericksen and grew up in Draper, SD. She pursued a bachelor’s degree at Dakota Wesleyan University and after graduating moved to Boston where she married Samuel Miller. They had two children, Larisa and Mark. Karen moved to Illinois, where she earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Chicago, then to Kalamazoo, MI, and eventually to New York City.

While raising her children, Karen focused her social work practice on child welfare and adoption. Her commitment to human rights found expression in her volunteer efforts to desegregate elementary schools in Kalamazoo. Ever the extrovert, she engaged in many cultural and culinary activities with friends and colleagues.

Karen returned to her home state in 1983 and provided counseling services at Lutheran Social Services before establishing her own private practice, where she met the women who became her longtime colleagues and closest friends. After she married Warren Jones in 1990, they began to travel widely: their first camping trip, which tested their relationship, went well enough that they stayed married through camping trips across the lower 48 and Alaska. They also traveled extensively abroad. Karen went to Africa and, a skilled and imaginative quilter, made one to commemorate her experiences there. It’s truly lovely.

She was an accomplished pianist who loved playing duets with friends and still used her iPod nightly to listen to music, which was very important in her life. She was an avid reader whose Kindle was packed with mysteries, literary fiction and the occasional juicy romance.

Karen was a committed progressive and spent much of her time in South Dakota either running for office herself or helping others with their campaigns by volunteering or with contributions. She was a founding mother of Democracy in Action (DIA), the local nonpartisan women’s political action committee dedicated to progressive change in western SD, and a longtime member of the Pennington County Democratic Party. She was a fierce advocate for women’s reproductive rights, and participated fully in the worldwide sisterhood of Gather the Women. She had a myriad of close women friends. She will be missed by so many because she was loved by them all.

She is survived by her husband Warren Jones; daughter Larisa and son Mark; stepchildren Greg (Faith) Jones, Cheryl Welch, and Cynthia (Don) Fendrick; five step grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents and brother Gary Fredericksen.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, August 9, 2025 at 2:00pm at the Journey Museum, 222 New York Street. Inurnment to be held at the Black Hills National Cemetery at a later date.

You may honor Karen by sending memorial contributions to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, the Rapid City Quaker Meeting or Black Hills Historical Society (formerly Minnelusa Historical Association.)