Karina Gabold was born in Nurnberg Germany in May, 1931. The first of several tragic events, her mother died of pneumonia just 2 years later, leaving 5 children for her father, Otto, a girls school principal, to raise. Otto eventually remarried and had 3 more children, but tragedy struck again. One of Karina’s closest brothers died of blood poisoning and then WWII broke out. It was a horrible time for children …. Bombs, confusion, food scarcity, separation from family, loss of home. Thankfully she was a survivor!

Never being the conformist, Karina at age 21, decided to start a new life in America. She was the trailblazer for 3 of her brothers who would follow in her footsteps. She briefly lived and worked in Detroit, but moved, fairly soon thereafter, to Florida where she continued to work as a beautician. She met handsome Charlie and it was love at first sight. They married and had one child, a daughter named Sabrina. Karina took Sabrina to Germany in 1958, both flying on their first airplane ride, to visit family. Karina worked hard making a home and career in Largo, Florida. The family would travel a fair bit, to the mountains of NC and much of Europe. She loved to read, was curious about and questioned everything, especially religion.

Raised Catholic, Karina eventually discovered Unitarian Universalism in Franklin, NC. Although she never officially became a UU herself, she suggested to Sabrina and her family that they might find it a good religion to explore. They would all continue to have a relationship with GUUF for many years. After Charlie died in 1999, Karina lived in the mountains of northern GA and part time in Florida. An AVID hiker, she earned numerous awards and “patches”. Karina never slowed down until the Guillane Barre disease afflicted her while visiting her sister in Germany. Paralyzed for 2 months, she made a miraculous, albeit slow recovery. Unfortunately, cancer struck too; ignoring it, Karina didn’t let that stop her. She continued to care for her daughter and her home during most of 2013 while Sabrina was treated in-hospital for leukemia. Karina passed in early 2014. Few people knew she was ill. Adjectives to describe Karina: fiercely loyal and committed to family, spunky, physically active, curious, and beautiful inside and out!