Karen Marie Rodriguez

Karen Rodriguez, longtime Catholic elementary school teacher and ESL teacher, died March 10, 2025, at Avera Dougherty Hospice House. 

A Memorial Service will be held 10:30am Saturday, March 29, 2025 at Blessed Sacrament Church, 3112 Jackson Street, Sioux City, Iowa. The interment will be held at 1:00pm on Monday, March 31, 2025 at the South Dakota Veteran’s Cemetery, 25965 477th Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

Karen Marie Bohnenkamp Rodriguez was born November 24, 1946, in Tilden, Nebraska, to Lawrence and Marcella (Schmitz) Bohnenkamp. She attended St. Boniface Grade School and High School and graduated from Wayne State College in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. Following College, she taught at Catholic Schools for 45 years in Sioux City. Initially she taught kindergarten and first grade and went on to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). 

On August 2, 1969, she was united in marriage with Julio Rodriguez in Sioux City. Residing in Sioux City, they soon became loving parents to their two children. Later in life they moved to Sioux Falls. Karen enjoyed volunteering at Blessed Sacrament Church and reading at the masses. She also was a member of the Red Hat Society. In addition she was a member of League of United Latin American Citizens. Karen liked to read and follow the weather very closely. She also thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her dogs. Additionally she enjoyed spending time outside and decorating for each holiday, especially Christmas. She loved visiting with her mother and sisters and visiting her son in Washington. 

Grateful for having shared her life are her husband, Julio; son, Jamie and his wife, Angie, Sioux Falls, SD; Jamie’s daughter, Morgan, Union Gap, WA, and his son, Caleb, Port Orchard, WA; daughter, Jenni and her husband Steve Koutz, Watertown, SD; Steve’s daughter, Mallory, Sioux Falls, SD; and her sisters Cheri Schwager, Orchard, NE, and Mary Jo (Patrick) Newburn, Sioux City, IA; and her nephew, Joey Rodriguez, Sioux Falls, SD. 

Memorials made be directed to the family, who in turn will forward it to the Alzheimer’s Association.