Karen L. Meier, 72

Longtime Arlington School Bus Driver

Karen L. Meier, 72, of Carlsbad, N.M., formerly of Arlington, died Tuesday, March 20, 2012, in El Paso, Texas.

Services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont. Interment will be in St. Paul’s Cemetery north of Arlington. Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Ludvigsen Mortuary in Fremont.

Karen LaVae Brinkman was born on May 22, 1939, in Fremont to John and Linda (Sperling) Brinkman and lived most of her life in Nebraska.

She married Les Meier on December 8, 1959. They lived in Fremont until 1972 at which time they moved to an acreage outside of Arlington. In 1979 she began a long career as a school bus driver for the Arlington school system. She retired from bus driving in 2006 and moved to Carlsbad in June of 2007 where she spent the remainder of her life.

She was a lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont until her move to Carlsbad where she became a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Carlsbad. She loved her friends and family and loved to travel, especially to PBR events to cheer for her grandson. She always said, “I can be ready to go in five minutes.”

She was a loving mother, a giving grandmother, a loyal wife and sister, a fun and trusted friend, a fierce competitor, and a joy to all who knew her.

During her retirement she also became an avid quilter and made many beautiful quilts for family, friends and as donations. She was a busy volunteer for the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park in Carlsbad and was very active in her church.

She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, Rex and Twila Meier of Checotah Okla., and Mark and Jennie Meier of Fremont; two daughters and sons-in-law, Tina and Dean Brummett and Amy and David Hershley, all of Carlsbad; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild; two brothers and sister-in-law, Milton Brinkman of Wichita, Kan., and Leland and Delores Brinkman of Monument, Colo.

She was preceded in death by her husband, a daughter, a grandchild and a sister.

Memorials may be directed to the Carlsbad Horticulture Society, Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park, P.O. Box 100, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220.