Our family's brightest light was extinguished when Kara unexpectedly passed on last month. Brave, smart, kind and possessed of a razor-sharp wit, Kara was the kind of person people truly enjoyed being around, from her days as a child in the Midwest to her adult life in California, Ireland and Nevada. Always a survivor, she faced numerous health challenges over the past several years with grace, humor and courage.

A gifted musician, Kara played the cello, guitar and piano, and was a much sought after piano teacher when she was still just a teenager, and, back in those glory days she juggled being in a band, teaching piano and working at Ben Tan's Restaurant, which was, frankly, the best Chinese restaurant Stark County has ever seen - and not just because Kara often made the sweet and sour sauce.

Kara loved metal music, and some of her favorite bands included In Flames, Children of Bodom, Dimmu Borgir, System of a Down and Vesania. She was a regular concertgoer, had an impressive collection of tour shirts, including a pretty glorious hand-embroidered Moonsorrow tee, and attended tons of shows and festivals with her daughter, Siobhan, whom she loved more than anyone or anything in the world, and who inherited her love of music and artistic talent. Kara couldn't have been prouder than when her daughter earned a full college scholarship to study cello and composition, except maybe when Siobhan scored her first full-length feature film, Unlucky, produced at Kent State.

Speaking of films, Kara was a big horror fan and had probably seen close to every scary movie ever made. Some of her faves included Insidious, Sinister, the Scream movies, the Saw series and the campy Re-Animator, and she was photographed around the globe in her Re-Animator t-shirt. She also loved TV, especially crime dramas, and her favorites ranged from Supernatural to The Blacklist, South Park ("You're not my buddy, Guy! You're not my guy, Friend!"), Big Brother and, more recently, From.

A true Libra, Kara was always passionate about right and wrong (just ask the senior citizen at Rax who got carded by Kara when she worked there in the 80's and suspected him of being too young to use the Golden Buckeye discount) and she funneled that passion into her criminology and justice studies at Kent State University and UNLV. In later years, her fascination with criminology led to an interest in true crime and the supernatural, and she had a lot of fun ghost hunting, including exploring the Queen Mary during a 3-day paranormal conference that she attended with her daughter, sister and a host of ghosts, spectres, wraiths and phantoms!

Kara loved to travel and visited much of Europe and North America. Ireland held a special place in her heart, and she very much enjoyed living in Swords, near Dublin. While her health precluded overseas travel the past few years, she did visit family in California, and was especially close with her sister Christina, who will carry with her the memories of every inside joke, all the shared laughter, each family secret and the perfect new wave haircuts Kara got without their mom's permission (sorry, Mom, but her hair did look fire).

Our family has always loved cooking (and eating!), and Kara was a terrific cook and truly outstanding baker. A world bereft of her chicken and dumplings, pumpkin pies, holiday sugar cookies and oatmeal scotchies is a much darker place.

Kara is survived by her daughter and best friend Siobhan, her father Camden, her sister Christina and extended family around the country. Waiting for her with open arms on the other side are her mother Janice, her grandparents Valerie, Bill, Fay and Clair, and her dearly loved pets, most recently and especially Nova and Zoolander.

Kara's celebration of life will be a private event. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider supporting the World Wildlife Fund or your local student musician program, such as the Las Vegas Youth Orchestra, the Illinois Valley Youth Symphony Organization or the Canton (Ohio) Youth Symphony, and we ask that you consider honoring Kara by wearing one of your favorite concert t-shirts on her birthday, 10/23.