Karen Rae Best

September 17, 1939 ~ December 19, 2024

Karen Best had a restless energy, ever only operating at two speeds: on—and in a hurry—or off. It is with great sadness that we announce that she has switched to off mode one last time. Karen Best of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, passed away quietly at home on Thursday, December 19, 2024, from complications related to heart disease. She was 85 years old.

A Celebration of Life for Karen will be held at 10:30am, at Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, on Saturday, January 4, 2025. To watch online by streaming, click here www.peacelutheran.com/live . In lieu of memorials, the family requests that folks carve out a moment to buy a friend a coffee and share a memorable story about Karen.    

Born in Lake City, Iowa, on September 17, 1939, to Carl and Florence Vincent, she grew up a middle child in a farming family along with her five siblings. Despite her diminutive stature, she took pride in giving her two older brothers, Gene and Paul, a run for their money in whatever games or activities they engaged in, and she delighted equally in being the bossy older sister to Mary and Patricia. All five doted on the energetic rascal of the group, their youngest brother, Steven.

Karen attended Lake City area schools, graduating in 1958. During high school, she played half-court Iowa-brand girls’ basketball and worked as a soda jerk at a local drug store as well as a clerk at the local grocery store. She married Jim Best on December 6, 1958, and welcomed a daughter, Dee, the following year. The couple lived at several places in the area before settling in Lytton, Iowa, where Karen operated a beauty parlor out of their home for many years while Jim worked at the local grain elevator. It was in these years that both Karen and Jim took up golf, which became a life-long hobby for both.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Jim was offered different opportunities to manage elevators, and the couple followed these opportunities. From Hills, Minnesota—at which time their family grew to include a son, Dan—to stops in Red Oak (Iowa), Storden (Minn.), and Marion (So. Dak.), Jim worked the elevators while Karen worked as a mother, at a fabric store, and as a bookkeeper. It was also during this time that she started to find success on local golf courses. She won her first of four club championships in 1977 followed by wins in 1985, 1986, and 1990 across three different country clubs.

In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Jim’s career pivoted to insurance, and Karen joined him for several years as an agent after moving back to Storden. True to her restless and tireless nature, Karen switched up careers to become a travel agent in the early 1990s as the couple moved to Marshall and Lake Benton in Minnesota before eventually settling for good in Sioux Falls in the late 1990s. In Sioux Falls, Karen shifted careers once again, working first as a bank teller and then in operations for local banks. She finished out her work career back in the insurance business as an agent at Best Insurance along with her husband and daughter, before they sold the business and retired in 2014.

Karen had an active retirement and was fortunate to spend her last several winters at a small townhouse the couple purchased at Sun Village in Surprise, Arizona. It was in Surprise that she took art classes and developed impressive skills in watercolor painting and chalk drawings. Golf continued to be her favored form of activity, and after so many years of close calls, she recorded her first and only hole-in-one at the age of 83.

Karen is survived by her husband of 66 years, Jim Best; daughter, Dee (Bruce) Swenson, Sioux Falls; son, Dan (Sarah) Best, Shorewood, Minn.; granddaughters, Courtney Swenson, and Molly Best; and great-grandsons, Adam Swenson and Declan Swenson.

Karen was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Rachel Best; her parents; and her brothers, Paul Vincent and Steven Vincent.

Karen’s greatest joy in life was in time spent with family—especially her granddaughters and great-grandsons. In moving more than two dozen times over the years, Karen and Jim owned 12 different houses, and the many moves brought into their lives new adventures and wonderful friends whom Karen always enjoyed visiting with, particularly over a hand of cards. Karen is remembered by those closest to her as a curious and tenacious soul and a person unafraid to speak her mind while always thoughtful of others. To family members, she was their most enthusiastic supporter, and her energy, love, and loyalty will be sorely missed.

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