Karen Boisvert Lapan passed away on July 31, 2025, at the age of 65. She was surrounded by a dozen of her loved ones and had been visited by countless friends and family members over the last few weeks of her life.
Karen was born in Burlington, Vt., on July 7, 1960, to Marie and André Boisvert. She described herself as studious and quiet as a child, loving art and her dolls, and one of her earliest jobs as a young teen was teaching kids in her neighborhood how to read. She attended Burlington High School and pursued higher education at Johnson State College, Community College of Vermont and Burlington College, eventually earning an associate’s degree and a bachelor’s. With Richard Lapan, she raised three children in Winooski and took on the role of mother to many more throughout her life. One of Karen’s greatest joys and sources of pride was her work at Burlington College. Through 14 years of that work, she helped students from all walks of life find a path to fulfilling their dreams and gaining confidence in themselves. She was a tirelessly active member of her community elsewhere, too, supporting her children and their peers as they participated in organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the DREAM mentoring program and the Winooski School District.
In her free time, Karen loved to read, cook, collect antiques and watch documentaries. She was an avid historian and student of folkways and herbal medicine. A highlight of her last few years was her relationship with her grandson, Bill, born in 2019. That year, Karen traveled out to the Pacific Northwest twice and got to spend cherished early days with baby Bill while visiting the Cascades, Portland and sites along the rugged Oregon coast such as Cannon Beach. Even as her health worsened, she made every effort to be present for Bill, celebrating three of his first five Christmases with him and enriching his life in ways he will appreciate for years to come.
If you knew Karen, you know how impossible it is to convey the generosity, patience and compassion with which she treated everyone in her life. She had a capacity to see the good in people and to understand their shortcomings, which, in turn, encouraged everyone around her to act more kindly toward each other. That reputation spread from Winooski and Burlington to corners all over Vermont and beyond, and it will live on in the memories we hold and the stories we tell about her.
She is survived by her children, Devon, Kaitlyn, Connor and Kateland; the father of her children, Richard; her brother, Raymond, and his wife, Teresa; her mother, Marie; her son-in-law, Ross; and her grandson, Bill. A special thanks to the staff of the McClure Miller Respite House, who took exceptional care of her in her final days. The celebration of Karen’s life was privately held.
This article appears in Seven Daysies 2025.