Obituary

Karen Lubensky passed away on February 18, 2021 at the Regional Hospice in Danbury, CT where she had resided the past 9 days. Karen was born at Woman’s Hospital in New York City on January 27, 1962, the first child of Isabel and Karl W. Ryavec who was then studying toward a Ph.D. degree at Columbia University.

In June 1964 she, her younger brother, Karl E. and her parents moved to Amherst, Massachusetts where her father had been appointed to the Political Science Department of the University of Massachusetts. She attended the University’s nursery school, Crocker Farm Elementary School and Amherst Regional High School in Amherst. She always exhibited a great joy of life and athleticism. She won the year-end students’ race at Crocker Farm more than once.

During the summers at the family camp in Maine she loved to take the canoe out alone and also climbed Mount Katahdin several times with her family. She always slept on the north-facing screen porch, braving whatever weather appeared. She was successful at water-skiing as soon as she tried it; the same with snow-boarding and skiing.

She was adept at sewing and graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York City in fashion design. She and her first husband, James Sevoian, lived in Gaylordsville, CT for several years. Karen made custom clothing and draperies for people in the area and marketed her own designs of purses and clothing.

Karen moved to Brookfield, CT with her second husband, David Lubensky, who survives her, and their dogs, Vail, Breck, and Elli. Karen was a creative artist through many mediums, and had an eye for fashion. She left an imprint on youth of Brookfield by teaching sewing classes at the Parks & Rec program. She enjoyed outdoor activities with David including skiing, fishing, hikes with their dogs, and hunting with their friends at their local hunting club in Newtown, CT. Her parents of Pelham, MA also survive her.

Karen very much enjoyed spending time with her family, and is survived by her two children, Noelle Sevoian of Burlington,VT (husband Constantin, and daughters Stella Isabel and Margaret Caroline) and Jesse Sevoian of Drexel Hill, PA (wife Melissa and daughter Lucia Mae). Karen adored her granddaughters and loved doing special things with them, especially spending time at the beach, park, museums, and the zoo. Karen will be deeply missed.

The family is humbled to see the amount of support and love Karen received through her final days, and wants to thank her friends for this support as well as the dedicated workers of Regional Hospice CT in Danbury. 

An outdoor memorial service will be held in Pelham, MA in May.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Bow Wow Buddies Foundation (bowwowbuddies.com) and Outdoor Women's Alliance (https://www.outdoorwomensalliance.com/donation-outdoor-womens-alliance/)