Column: Even in death, Aurora's beloved Christmas lady reflected a Hallmark life

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Karen Bozarth was all about spreading goodwill toward men – and women and children. And not just at Christmas, her favorite holiday season, but throughout the entire year.
Her last Facebook post, on July 25, in fact, was a happy reminder that Christmas was only five months away, part of her monthly countdown that was but a small indication of how much Aurora's 'Christmas Lady' loved that magical time of year.
Karen, who had been battling heart issues, died in her Aurora home on Aug. 7 at age 61. But those who loved her – and there are many – take comfort in knowing she passed away enjoying one of her favorite activities: watching a Hallmark movie.
While that last romantic storyline she was watching centered around Valentine's Day, Karen's favorites from this cable channel were its Christmas movies. Which makes sense as she and her husband of 31 years, Jim Bozarth, became well-known for their magnificent Christmas House, which WGN-TV featured last December.
I first met Karen when I wrote a column about their holiday home in Orchard Valley subdivision, where every room was turned into a magical wonderland with 35 trees, 300 snowmen and hundreds of wreaths, figurines and yuletide mementoes.
Then there was the basement, which contained 13 tables filled with a spectacular Department 56 Snow Village collection that included more than 400 buildings and over 1,000 accessories, with hundreds of moving parts, as well as a train circling the 56 separate villages.
The Bozarths held an annual open house that allowed thousands of people over the years to enjoy this holiday wonderland. That's how I first met Karen, when someone told me about the display and I went to see it for myself.
I certainly did not know Karen well. But it didn't matter. She was one of those people you can't forget because she exuded the kind of warmth and happiness that makes you feel as if you've known her for years. 'One of a kind' sounds so cliche, yet those words, which have been used frequently to describe Karen as the Facebook tributes began flowing, really do sum up who she was inside and out.
'There are some people who have sun inside them,' one Facebook post said. 'It's hard to explain. Their presence just brightens. It's not about their beautiful smiles. They have an internal being that sheds light and feels like sun. It's a calm energy, inner peace. But most importantly, it's not wanting anything in return. It's sun.'
Other posts also talked about how special Karen was as a person.
'There will never be another like her.'
'If you knew her you loved her.'
'This woman was the light in everyone's life; the most lovely person you could ever meet.'
'She was one of God's angels put on this Earth to remind us there is still love and kindness in this world …'
Karen had been battling serious health issues for a while, her husband told me, but it was a broken femur from a fall in June that forced her to take time off from a long career with Scholastic Inc. in St. Charles.
She was not feeling well on Thursday but declined Jim's offer to make a trip to the emergency room, opting instead to watch a movie from her vast Hallmark channel DVD collection, where Christmas-themed narratives are the superstars.
Sitting near his wife using his tablet, Jim noticed Karen had fallen asleep, only to discover a short time later she was unresponsive.
As one Facebook post read: 'Heaven gained the most beautiful angel on Thursday night.'
No one knows that more than 27-year-old Jordan Davis, who moved from Florida to Chicago in 2019 for job reasons and was introduced to Karen, a West Aurora High School classmate of her mom Amy who had reconnected via Facebook.
'When I first met her, I thought, is this fake? No one can be this nice. But the more I visited, the more time I spent with them, I knew it was all genuine,' she said, who now considers Karen her 'Illinois mom.'
'Over the years she has been a constant light in my life, an amazing resource,' Davis told me, adding that, unlike 'so many people you come across, there was no agenda, no hidden motive.'
Christmas this year, of course, will be different for those who loved Karen. As will Davis' upcoming wedding, where she will walk down the aisle with a locket specially made for her by the woman who 'took me in' and 'loved you like you are her own.'
The locket arrived on Thursday, Jim told me, but not before Karen got a chance to see how special it was. Says Davis, who received it over the weekend, 'It is even more meaningful now.'
Karen Bozarth – whose funeral Mass is at 10 a.m. Aug. 13 at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Aurora – leaves behind a legion of friends and family with similar feelings and stories to share that paint a Hallmark portrait of a woman who would not only give a stranger the shirt off her back but was a whole lot of fun to hang around.
Karen also leaves behind that magnificent snow village collection, which never was dismantled after she and Jim announced last December that, due to health issues, it was the display's final year.
I am so glad I got the chance to view it. Even more, I'm grateful for the opportunity to have met Karen Bozarth. Just as her holiday home had to be seen to be believed, so also did this beautiful Christmas lady whose bright light brought so much joy to the world.