Karen Louise Fritsche of Watertown, MA, formerly of Cambridge, MA, and Pittsburgh, PA died on December 15, 2023 at age 77. Born on December 3, 1946 in Pittsburgh, PA, she was the daughter of the late Joseph V. Fritsche, Jr. of Philadelphia, PA, and of the late Louise C (Pfister) Fritsche of Carrolltown, PA. In Pittsburgh, she attended All Saints Elementary School in Etna, PA and Vincentian High School in Allison Park, PA. As a fourth generation Pennsylvanian, Karen always considered herself a Pennsylvanian and more specifically, a Pittsburgher.

Karen graduated with high honors from Conard High School in West Hartford, CT in 1964. She received a B.A. degree from St. Joseph College in West Hartford, CT, from which she graduated magna cum laude in 1968. She earned a M.A. degree in French Language and Literature from Middlebury College, in Middlebury, VT, from which she graduated magna cum laude in 1970. In 1976, she received a M.A. degree from Middlebury College in Spanish Language and Literature. She earned a license es lettres from the Sorbonne, University of Paris, in 1970, with “mention bien” and received a “certificate” from the Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Interprettes et de Traducteurs (National Interpreting and Translating School), University of Paris, in 1971. She took many courses at Harvard University, especially German and Arabic, and at New England Conservatory, and was a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow in the teaching of French civilization.

Karen taught French at Granby High School, Granby, CT for one year and was also head of the Foreign Language Department there. She was an editor at D.C. Heath and Company in Lexington, MA in the French high school and college textbook divisions and consulted on the writing of French high school textbooks for several years while she taught French full time.  During her French teaching career, she also did free lance translating for international companies and did some projects for UNESCO in three languages. She taught French at Watertown High School, Watertown, MA, for one year and taught French for thirty-three years at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School, Sudbury, MA, from which she retired in 2005. She was awarded teacher emeritus status at Lincoln-Sudbury for one year in 2006.

Karen was president of the Teachers Association at Lincoln Sudbury for two years. With her students at Lincoln Sudbury and with her friends in West Hartford, she helped to run many walks for Haiti, which raised over $500,000 for schools and hospitals and healthcare projects in Haiti. 

She was a member of the Parish Council and the Adult Education Committee of St. Helena Church, West Hartford, CT and was a member of St. Paul Church, Cambridge, MA, and St. Bonaventure Church, Glenshaw, PA, for many years. 

Karen was an avid traveler who visited most of the US states and Canadian provinces, as well as over 20 countries in Europe, and a few in North Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. She found travel to be one of the best forms of education, certainly a way to open one’s mind, she said. 

Music and art were her special interests. She took several courses on music and art and would often attend shows at the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Wadsworth Atheneum, and was a member of all three. Karen had a passion for visiting museums around the world and would spend several hours exploring them. She would also attend almost every concert of the season in Boston and Hartford and would enjoy concerts of many visiting musicians and orchestras. She especially appreciated piano concerts, since she had taken piano lessons for fifteen years. She taught both French art and French music to her advanced French classes at Lincoln Sudbury. She adored Chopin and Renoir and inspired students to love them. Although, as Karen said, her sister, Nancy, inherited all the artistic talent in the family. Karen loved to collect art and willed several pieces from her collection to museums, in Pittsburgh and the Hartford area. 

Karen was an avid reader all her life and would spend hours every summer day on the porch in Glenshaw reading books, both fiction and non-fiction. She was a member of two book clubs for many years. 

Photography and writing were two of her other passions. She used her talents in these fields to advantage in her travel writing and travel photography for the “Boston Globe” and “LA Times” newspapers, among others. She wrote several articles on education and teaching and on music, as well, for other publications.

Karen took ballet lessons for five years and reveled in the beauty of performances by Boston Ballet, to which she was a subscriber every year. She enjoyed ballet performances in New York City and all over Europe. 

Foreign films helped Karen while away many happy hours. She participated in the discussion of films with friends and at a French film club at the West Hartford Library. 

Karen enjoyed entertaining at large dinner parties at her home or at musical afternoons and evenings at which she served her home cooked French and German dishes. 

Karen had a passion for teaching and did several presentations on the teaching of French at both national and state conferences. She continued teaching after her retirement, tutoring immigrants, both adults and teenagers, in English, and adults in Spanish and French, for free, just because she enjoyed the act of teaching.

She taught her students many life lessons, the most important being the one from her favorite French book, “Le Petit Prince” On ne voit bien qu’avec le Coeur, l’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” Or “One only sees well with the heart, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Karen tried to live this lesson in her life by helping those who were sick or handicapped or disadvantaged, economically or educationally. Some of those whom she helped were her handicapped mother and sister, as well as five children and five old women from Latin America, India, Madagascar and the Holy Land. She was a liberal Democrat of the FDR variety, who believed in using tax money for education and to help others, and she believed in the social service ideals of the Catholic Church. 

In lieu of flowers, Karen has endowed four scholarships or awards to which contributions may be made in her name. One may contribute to the Karen L. Fritsche scholarship for excellence in French at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School, 390 Lincoln Rd, Sudbury, MA 01776 or the Nancy A. Fritsche award for excellence in art at Northwest Catholic High School, 29 Wampanoag Drive, West Hartford, CT 06117 or to the Joe Fritsche service award for outstanding community service at Northwest Catholic High School, 29 Wampanoag Drive, West Hartford, CT 06117 or to the Louise C. Pfister Frische scholarship for excellence in both nursing studies and clinical skills at Conemaugh Valley Hospital School of Nursing, Conemaugh Health Foundation, 1086 Franklin Street, Johnstown, PA 15905-4398.

Karen is survived by many beloved cousins and her friend and life companion, Paul Cravedi. A celebration of Karen’s life will take place at Holy Family Monastery and Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road, West Hartford, CT at 12 noon on Saturday, December 30. Burial will be with Karen’s family in Carolltown, PA at a later date. Karen loved the color red and anyone attending would be welcome to wear it. The service may be watched live online on the following link: https://www.holyfamilyretreat.org/fritsche-livestream

Funeral arrangements will be handled by the Sheehan Hilborn Breen Funeral Home, 1084 New Britain Ave, West Hartford, CT. Online condolences may be made at www.SheehanHilbornBreen.com