Karen Komoroski

In Loving Memory of Karen Marie Schweiger

Komoroski

May 15, 1956 – March 27, 2026

 

​Karen Marie Schweiger Komoroski, age 69, passed away peacefully on March 27, 2026, at the University of Kansas Medical Center, surrounded by the family she spent her life nurturing. A lifelong resident of Kansas City, Missouri, Karen was a woman of immense intellect, a “bossy” but beloved matriarch, and a caretaker to everyone from her husband and four children to the strangers she met in her nursing rounds.

 

​Karen was a perennial student whose passion for learning was matched only by her desire to teach. After graduating from St. Teresa’s Academy in 1974, she began an academic journey that spanned decades: earning her BSN from Graceland University (1980), Master’s in Nursing Education from KU (1986), an EdS from UMKC (1993), and finally her PhD in Nursing from KU (2003).

 

​While community health nursing was the focus of her interest, she had an interesting career path in many areas of her field. She began her career working for Joyce Hall and Hallmark as an industrial nurse and provided compassionate home health care through Interim HealthCare and Olsten. However, her greatest professional impact was in education. Karen served as the Chairperson for the Division of Nursing at Metropolitan Community College – Penn Valley for over 20 years. She finished her career teaching Nurse Practitioners at Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences.

 

Karen enjoyed using her nursing skills as a volunteer for the Red Cross and often volunteered at Saint Luke’s Hospice House. In her later years, she also took special care of her Uncle Dave.

 

​On November 22, 1980, Karen married Philip G. Komoroski, beginning a 45-year partnership. Together they raised four children in a home known for its legendary Christmas cookie parties and Karen’s fast cooking style. When they retired, they traveled to Alaska, Ireland, the Northeast US and Nova Scotia.

 

​Karen’s hobbies reflected her love of learning and her curiosity. She was a weekend gardener and a passionate genealogist who enjoyed the challenge of tracking down distant relatives and uncovering interesting family history through DNA, courthouse records and cemeteries. She found peace at the family cabin in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, and enjoyed the companionship of her faithful cat, Bonnie. Whether she was cheering on her children, watching Phil coach their teams from the sidelines or caring for her three grandchildren, Karen was the steady heart of the Komoroski family.

 

​Karen was preceded in death by her father, Robert Theodore Schweiger. She is survived by her husband, Philip G. Komoroski; mother, Barbara Reitz Schweiger; sister, Paula Schweiger Holmquist (David); children, Kevin (Maigul), Tom (Rachel), Bridget Rader (Jared), and Mark; and her three grandchildren, Asa Rader, Levi Komoroski and Callum Komoroski. She also has many beloved in-laws, nieces, nephews, and godchildren.

 

The family will celebrate Karen’s life on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at St. Peter’s Parish, located at 701 E. Meyer Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64131. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. and Mass will begin at 11:00 a.m. A luncheon will be held after services in the Parish Hall. Inurnment will be at a later date.  The service will be live-streamed at https://youtube.com/@stpeterskc?si=n0yc4vMUS89NJVWF

 

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Peter’s Parish  or  St. Teresa’s Academy