Karen Riggle

Karen Sue Riggle was born to Eve E. (Grove) and Robert C. Smith in Duquesne, Pennsylvania on November 10, 1944.

She graduated from Duquesne High School in 1962. Karen (Susie) attended Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, PA before taking a job as a secretary at US Steel in Duquesne, where she met her husband, (John) Steven Riggle in 1977.

Karen and Steve raised Steve’s three children together and had 47 years full of activity and love – celebrating birthdays, vacationing at their Canadian cottage in Marmora, and caring for weimaraners, a breed of dog their family liked very much. Karen was fearless as she jumped in to raise Steve’s children and even jumped out of planes as skydiving became a hobby in her thirties.

Karen and Steve retired in their mid-fifties and spent much of the year at their cottage, fishing, swimming, hosting pizza parties on their cliffside deck, and cherishing friendships. Karen loved to take road trips with Steve and she had wonderful memories of their cross-country trip to the Pacific northwest.

Karen was preceded in death by her mother (Eve) and her father (Robert). She is survived by her spouse Steve, her son Mark (Lisette) Riggle, her daughters Tracy (Matt) Reed and Wendy (John) Solomon – along with nine grandchildren, four great grandchildren and her sweet dog Kiefer.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the polycystic kidney disease (PKD) Foundation.