Funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 16 at St. Irenaeus Church in Cypress for Karen Schiada Barnes, assistant principal for counseling and guidance services at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood, who died Sept. 11 after a long and hard fought battle with cancer. A member of the second graduating class of St. Joseph High School in 1969, she went on to attend Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles. In 1973, following her college graduation, she returned to St. Joseph as a faculty member teaching home economics classes. After further education in counseling at California State University, Long Beach, she earned a counseling degree, heading the SJHS Counseling Department and strengthening the Peer Helper Program. Always very active in her home parish of St. Irenaeus, Karen and her husband, Bill, taught Pre-Cana and marriage preparation classes in the parish. When asked recently to slow down in her endeavors at school to conserve her energy she replied, “Why? I love what I do.” She is survived by her husband and their daughters Kristine, Katie and Karrie; two grandsons, Ricky and Nolan; and her father, Leonard Schiada. Memorial donations may be made to the Karen Schiada Barnes Memorial Scholarship Fund at St. Joseph High School, 5825 Woodruff Ave., Lakewood, CA 90713.
