Obituary of Karen Ann Johns Wells
Karen Ann Johns Wells
Ithaca - Karen Ann Johns Wells (aka Keren), 72, of Ithaca, NY, passed away peacefully on March 31, 2019, surrounded by dear friends, family, and her dog, Raffi, at Cayuga Medical Center, after a long illness.
Born in Ithaca on May 13, 1946, Keren was the daughter of Joseph and Doris Davenport Johns (Joe and Dottie to family and friends). She was married to Charles (Chuckie) Wells for 29 years.
Keren graduated from Ithaca High School in 1964 and graduated with a BA from Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1968. Inspired by San Francisco's counterculture scene, she returned to Ithaca to open Euphoria, a unique clothing boutique. Ever the entrepreneur, she then taught herself the art of framing and established Seneca West frame shop. She became known in the region as an archival framer and produced museum-quality framing for her dedicated clientele.
She had a profound love for nature and animals. For years, she was up every morning with her Nikon (and more recently, her iPhone) to click the sunrise and was back every evening for the sunset. Rarely seen without her beloved standard poodles, her license plate read "POODLDVA".
Perhaps her most extraordinary art was the jewelry she created from 450-million-year-old crinoidia fossils she collected from her beach on Cayuga Lake, and hand-drilled. They were truly one-of-a-kind, just like Keren.
Keren will be deeply missed by her family and her valued friends. Her creations will live on from the art and fossils adorning our homes, to the sunrise and sunset photos filling our phones. We will all treasure our fun memories of times at the lake, her 80s music on high, her easy laughter, and, of course, poodles everywhere!
A celebration of life will be held on August 3, 2019 at 10 am at Taughannock Falls State Park, for details visit https://tinyurl.com/y38yryva .
Donations should be made in Keren's name to the Museum of the Earth www.priweb.org/donate .
In Loving Memory
Karen Johns Wells
1946 - 2019
