TOPIC: Karol Patzer

It is with great sadness that we share news of the passing of Karol Patzer, due to complications from Ovarian Cancer.
Karol lived her life to the fullest and always greeted you with a glowing smile, and open arms. She will be greatly missed, but we know she's already pursuing her next adventure.
Plans for Karol's service will be announced once we have set a date.
We would love for her friends to share their memories of her through photos and stories on her Facebook page.
As Karol always said, "Ride hard, go far, keep smiling..."
Karol Patzer facebook page

MOA Forum thread

If you've been to an MOA rally or read the MOA ON magazine, you've seen Karol - a boundless energetic capable volunteer for everything. I will miss her constant welcoming smiles and laughter, even when exhausted from working so hard behind the scenes doing what she enjoyed with the people she loved -- a driving force of the BMW MOA. She was an amazing and inspirational woman and will be so missed by all who were blessed to know her. I will always remember the surprise when happenstance conversation at the Burlington, VT rally led Karol and I to discover that we grew up living 1 mile away from each other and attended the same small country school - Neshannock in New Castle/New Wilmington, PA! Now I see people I know sharing and posting vintage photos of her from that era - neat.

IBA # 94
Ambassador at BMW MOA
Former Director at BMW MOA
Volunteer at Minnesota Zoo
Friend of the Marque at BMW
Former Director at BMW MOA Foundation
Former BMW MOA Mileage Contest Coordinator
Sales Rep Gerbings Heated Gear
Sales Associate (PT) at All Seasons Wild Bird Store
Former Dealer Sales Manager - 2005 to 4-2014 at Gyde Supply Co.

"Visian" Ian said: It's hard to put into words Karol's amazing contribution to our world. ... She did so much for our community publicly, privately she was a personal mentor to me, a very focused rider with a true sense of why we do what we do. She will be greatly missed."

Re-posted by Voni Glaves, well-written by Bob Higdon (Iron Butt Assoc.):

Voni Glaves On Dec 29, 2018, at 9:44 AM, Robert E. Higdon via IBDone <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:

"Every now and then some news appears that I just don't want to hear, don't want to take in. It's invariably a death notice --- Eddie James, John Ryan, Robert Hellman, and so on endlessly. The word of Karol's death falls into that awful category for me. We must have met in the early '90s when I was on the board of BMW MOA. She was active in the club for a long time, becoming one of the board's directors herself. Certainly it would have been no later than 1995 when she ran the first of her four IBRs.

She later invited me to be the guest speaker at her BMW club's annual banquet in Minneapolis on January 14, 2000. I couldn't think of a gracious way to decline the offer, especially since the club had fronted the airline ticket, so I did some research on how it was possible to live in that kind of environment for a winter weekend and headed out from the tropical climes of Washington, D.C. Karol picked me up at the airport. She and Jerry put me up that night in their home. The next day she gave me the obligatory tour of the Mall of America that I enjoyed more than I was willing to admit. The banquet went well, as I recall, and I flew home the next day.

We continued to cross paths over the years at MOA and RA rallies, IBR functions, and the IBRs in 2001 and 2007. I truly believe that she must have been the happiest person I have ever known. I cannot recall ever seeing her depressed, sad, or angry at anything. Her default state seemed to be that of uninhibited joy at being wherever she happened to be, and if she was with you, she let you know it. It was as if the mere sight of you had fulfilled everything she had been waiting for. That smile, those wide eyes, that child-like delight. Oh, that is so rare, and so completely enveloping.

Google tells me that the Cookie Factory and the store that sold nothing but bones and skeletons at the Mall of America no longer are operational. I bought Karol a cookie at the former store and shared her enjoyment at the simple existence of the latter. I can accept their passing. It's just business. But . . . ah, no buts allowed here, not now. Be grateful you had the opportunity to know, however briefly, someone of such worth. What a life. What a loss."

Bob Higdon
#228