Karen Coster ’62 Marter

Karen Marter, age 80, passed away peacefully August 2020 due to cancer. Karen was a member of the SYV Hiking Group for 16 years. She was also a gourmet cook, a dog lover, a hostess extraordinaire and a gardener with a ‘bright green thumb”.

Karen was born in Holland Michigan; graduated from Lyndonville CHS in 1958; attended Hope College in Holland MI for 2 years and spent 1 fabulous year in Spain at the Univ. of Madrid and later graduated from NYU with a BA in Spanish. From 62-64 Karen served as a member of the Peace Corps in Costa Rica where she gained a new family for the rest of her life. Returning to the USA, she moved to NM and became Dist. Advisor for the GSA. To quote Karen “I not only quit, I escaped” as she enthusiastically told her story. She moved to California and waitressed until obtaining a position as a Spanish teacher at La Colina Jr. High where she worked until retirement in 1995. She earned a Teacher of the Year Award.

In 1986, she married Howard (Toby) Marter and moved to Santa Ynez into the house her loving architect husband designed. Karen is survived by her brother John and her sister Margaret Banks. Also surviving Karen are Toby’s two sons, Chris Marter and Michael Marter.