Karen E. Zolper, 74, of Mendota died Nov. 17, 2016 at Rockford Memorial Hospital after a long struggle with heart disease.

Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at Holy Cross Church, Mendota with Rev. Gary Blake officiating. Burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, Mendota. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 21 at the Merritt Funeral Home, Mendota with recital of the rosary at 3:30 p.m.

Pallbearers will be six of her grandchildren, Mikal Gahan, Cole Petty, Rachael Swiercz, Jacob Eutis, Alexis Tonioni and Nicholas Keefe.

Karen was born July 15, 1942 in Spring Valley to John and Eva (Vezzetti) Bertrand. She married Joseph W. Zolper on Feb. 11, 1961 in Peru.

Survivors include her husband of 55 years; one son, Joseph S. (Ellen) Zolper of Hanover Park; five daughters, Lisa (Bret) Petty of Crawfordsville, Ind., Amy (Mike) Gahan of Mendota, Renee (Joe) Tonioni of Sugar Grove, Angela (Dr. Steven) Maskin of Tampa, Fla. and April (Terry) Eutis of Mendota; 17 grandchildren; and one brother, Scott (Rose) Bertrand of Naperville.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Karen was a member of Holy Cross Church and Director of Religious Education at Holy Cross Parish for 33 years. After retiring as director, she remained active in parish pastoral work. She enjoyed sewing and flower arranging for most of her life. She became quite skilled in doing these duties for her children and grandchildren. She was able to demonstrate her cooking abilities with her husband who gladly obliged testing, tasting and sampling.

Memorials may be directed to Holy Cross Church.