As the first four-year female athlete at Stout, Karen Mueser has to be considered a groundbreaker in women's athletics at the university. Mueser participated in gymnastics from 1966-70 when there were five all-around events -- vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and trampoline. A native of Chicago where she competed in the German Athletic Club, Mueser led Stout to the state intermediate gymnastics championship, beating perennial favorite La Crosse State. Mueser went on to coach gymnastics while teaching junior high school in the Chicago area, and has been employed by Sears, Roebuck & Company as a senior product engineer.
PARK RIDGE, Ill. (May 17, 2017) - Karen Mueser, one of the members of the first UW-Stout women's gymnastics team, passed away Feb. 13, 2017.
Mueser was a member of the original gymnastics team formed in 1967 when Kay Carter, a physical education instructor mentioned in her class that she was planning to start a gymnastics team.
"I had some gymnastics training growing up so when Kay asked if I wanted to be on it, I said yes," Mueser said in
an earlier story posted on the Blue Devil website.
Mueser, who was the first four-year gymnast at Stout, competed from 1967-70. During Mueser's tenure on the team, the Blue Devils won the 1969 women's gymnastics state championship.
"We had to beat the favorite which was La Crosse," Mueser said. "It was a thrill for our group, since nobody in the athletic department even thought we were a real team yet. I don't remember everything about the meet, but it all went right for us."
Mueser earned her undergraduate degree from Stout in Home Economic Education in 1970 and returned to earn her masters degree from Stout in Apparel, Textiles and Related Arts.
A native of the Chicago area, Mueser came to Stout because she wanted to become a home economics teacher. After graduating from Stout, she taught middle school home economics for nine years, then joined Sears in their textile laboratory, analyzing textile products, working in the famed Sears Tower in Chicago for 10 years. She was with Sears in a number of different capacities for 24 years, retiring in 2003. After retiring, she returned to teaching, at Dominican University teaching Textile Sciences until 2013.
Mueser was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. A memorial service was held May 5, 2017,at the Chicago Botanical Gardens.
Karen Mueser Obituary
Karen was the daughter of Edith Klepp Mueser and Bernard Paul Mueser and was welcomed home in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago by Barney's two other children, Paulette Ann and Richard Paul.
Karen developed many of her life-long interests in childhood. Both parents instilled a love of nature throughout their involvement in the Prairie Club. As a teenager, she spent several summers at a ranch in Colorado owned by a friend of Edie's. Her father encouraged gymnastics lessons at Turner's German Athletic Society starting at age 11. From her mother came sewing skills and a love of all things Norwegian. Some of her many lifelong friendships were formed in those early years.
Karen graduated from William Howard Taft School in 1966. In 2016, she served on the 50th Reunion committee. It turned out to be her last major project. The celebratin was completes as the first symptoms of the cruel disease were becoming apparent.
From high school, Karen went to the University of Wisconsin-Stout where she majored in Home Economics Education. She joined the newly formed women's gymnastics team in her freshman year. She led the team to the state championship in 1969 when "nobody in the athletic department even thought we were a real team yet," she recalled. In 2001, Karen was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame, honored as a "groundbreaker in women's athletics at Stout" for being the first woman to compete all four undergraduate years. Her gymnastics career in the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and trampoline lasted from 1966 to 1970.
Karen stayed at Stout for her master's degree in Apparel, Textiles and Related Arts, awarded in 1977. She then returned to the Chicago area and taught junior high home economics and coached gymnastics for nine years.
She was not so crazy about the cooking part of the job, so when a position opened at Sears in the textile lab, she leapt at the opportunity and eventually was named Senior Product Engineer. It was a perfect fit. She spent 24 years there in a very collegiate environment, honing her expertise in textiles by protecting consumers from shoddy, defective or unsafe materials.
While she could have retired, Karen preferred to stay active. Karen taught for 10 years at Dominican University as an adjunct instructor in the Apparel Design department. whe she finally retired in 2013, the department threw a surprise farewell party for her; she was deeply touched actually surprised.
She served in important capacities for national trade organizations like the AATCC and ASTM, both concerned with textile safety. She gave testimony before the Frederal Trade Commission and had her own consulting business. Karen also engaged in national politics after retirement, writing to officials and urging, for a few examples, a strengthened EPA , conservation and protection of national parks.
She devoted herself tirelessly to the care of her mother and all her family, near and far - Klepps and Muesers alike. She proudly preserved family lore. She maintained a wide circle of devoted friends and neighbors. She was a caring, selfless, thoughtful, talented, sensible, independent, stubborn and sometimes silly. Karen helpd make the world a better place. Hers is a life and legacy worth celebrating.
Karen Mueser died of cancer, age 68, on February 13, 2017.
