Karen Saralegui Larsen Caplan passed away in her sleep, early morning Wednesday, January 11, 2023. She was born March 15, 1943, in Santa Barbara, CA to Maxine and Manual Silva, who divorced shortly after. Maxine married Bernard Saralegui, and they raised their eight children of which Karen was the oldest, on Bernard’s family ranch, just outside of Santa Barbara, CA. Karen graduated from Santa Ynez Valley High School in 1961.
Shortly thereafter, she met her best friend’s older brother, Adrian Larsen, when he came home from serving in the US Air Force. They were married February, 1962, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. They attended Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, and Karen taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School there. Karen was a licensed day care provider for 10 years.The children and their families absolutely loved her! She was later even invited to some of those children’s weddings. She started working at Raytheon in 1981. In order to qualify for that job, she took classes for shorthand at S.B.C.C. In 1988, she and Adrian divorced.
While working at Raytheon, Karen Met Frank Caplan. They were married in 1992. They both retired that same year, bought an RV and traveled a lot, putting 75,000 miles on their RV, and seeing most of the United States.
Karen volunteered for many years crocheting various items for the Unity Shop Knitters Group. She also crocheted blankets for each of her kids. She asked each of her grandchildren what their favorite color was, then made them a blanket out of that color. She was very active for several years with the Red Hat Society, as well as the women’s group at the SB Elks Lodge.
Karen was diagnosed with dementia in 2019. In 2020, for her safety and well being, the extremely difficult decision was made for her to live in a memory care facility. She was there for over two years. When the memory care facility was no longer able to take care of all of her needs, she was moved to a hospice care facility on Monday morning January 9th, 2023.
Karen was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Kathleen; a brother, Kevin; and one grandson who was waiting for her at Heaven’s gate when she arrived. She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Frank Caplan; four sisters, Cheryl, Sandi, Joyce and Cindy; one brother, Mark; 3 half sisters, Debi, Valerie, and Sharon; her daughters, Coreen, Deanna, and Julie; 3 stepdaughters, Ellen, Allison, and Jennifer; one step son, Michael; 4 grandsons, and 2 granddaughters, 3 step-grandsons, 3 step-granddaughters, 11 great-grandchildren, cousins, neices, and nephews as well.
Karen was an extraordinary, wonderful woman who touched so very many lives, always helping those she could. She was an AMAZING cook, and a LOT of gatherings were held at her home with tons of FANTASTIC Food. She loved fiercely and was truly loved by so many! Those who were close to her and loved by her, were extremely blessed more than words can express! She is so heartily missed!
A celebration of life will be held Saturday March 18th at,10:30am, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 380 No. Fairview Ave Goleta, CA.
