Karen "Lee" Hilliker

Karen “Lee” Hilliker, 82, passed away, Sunday morning, May 3, 2026, in Mount Vernon, Iowa. She was born November 26, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois, to Beldin Lee Hilliker and Ruth D. Jensen, and grew up in Tomah, Wisconsin.

Her father died when she was 12 years old, and ultimately became an orphan when her mother died a few years later. She spent most of her teenage years with the Bortner family of Tomah, including Mimi, who was close in age to Lee, and although not formally adopted, Lee often spoke of the Bortner’s with great affection.

After graduating high school, Lee attended and graduated from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, a community she would return to later. The summer after graduating from Cornell, Lee moved to Chicago, where she had a teaching job lined up that fall. As fate would have it, one night at a bar she met a couple of men who were headed to Maine with the goal of sailing to the Caribbean Island of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Lee seized the opportunity and offered to be their cook and scrubber for free passage.

She ended up spending the next 20 years in the Frenchtown neighborhood of Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas, in what was formerly an auto mechanic’s garage, which she deemed to be hurricane proof and affordable. During her first years on the island, she worked as a Cook on private yachts cruising the Caribbean and north to Florida and Maine. She eventually got the first many jobs on a Norwegian Cruise Ship that sailed the Caribbean, working her way up the position of Purser, a job she held for most of years on St. Thomas.

The islands of the Caribbean were an integral part of her life. After many years of saving, she finally had enough money to buy a houseboat, which was almost immediately destroyed by a hurricane. At that time, older and in her 40’s, she decided to leave the island. It was then that she chose to return to Mount Vernon. There she became a dedicated volunteer, working at many festivals and events. She was an avid reader and coffee house patron, and loved to celebrate the annual Summer Solstice with a hugely successful garden party attended by a gaggle of guests who adored her.

She preferred thinkers, artists and people who created, and had many friends who bonded over a good read, good food, a tipple, or knitting or weaving. Lee knit and read everywhere, though not at the same time. She was a devoted cat mom to the most ill-tempered cat in Mount Vernon that bit everyone as a matter of introduction.

Lee donated her body to the University of Iowa College of Medicine and her cremated remains will be reunited with her parents in Tunnel City, at a later date. Set sail, dearest Lee.

Her friends plan to remember her with a summer solstice get together on Sunday, June 21, from 3:00-5:00 p.m., at Abbe Creek Gallery, 105 1st St. NW, Mount Vernon. Good food to share would be most welcome. Wine and flavored sodas will be provided. Lee’s greatest passion was listening to music. Bring your instrument, or come with a photo and/or fond memories to share.