Karen Sue Groves Limperis, age 66, passed away on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Huntsville Hospital, where she was born on February 25, 1959. A lifelong resident of Huntsville, she graduated from Huntsville High School in 1978 and attended First Baptist Church and later First Methodist Church.
She graduated from the University of Alabama in 1982 with a BS in Education. She married John James Limperis II in May of that year at First Baptist Church in Huntsville. She later earned a Master’s in Education from Alabama A&M. Karen taught Special Education at Madison County and Huntsville City Schools for over 35 years.
Karen was a kind and elegant person dedicated to her family, as well as her friends and students. She enjoyed keeping a perfect house, travelling with her family, gardening, and never missed celebrating a holiday by sending a card or decorating. She loved Alabama football, attending concerts, visiting new restaurants, and spending the summer at the pool with her girls. She was a dog lover, especially of her three Cairn Terriers. A favorite pastime in the last two years was being with her grandchild, Grace, who affectionately called her Mimi. She loved hosting Camp Mimi and spending time with Grace any chance she could.
Despite battling a rare type of mesothelioma cancer for more than 16 years, Karen refused to let it define her. She bravely went through groundbreaking studies with experimental drugs, which were successful for her, but equally helpful to the worldwide fight against cancer.
She was preceded in death by her parents, William Morgan Groves, Sr., and Betty Sue Foster Groves, and sibling, William Morgan (Billy) Groves, Jr.
Karen leaves behind her husband, John, of 43 years, their two daughters, Mary-Morgan (David) Culver of Washington, DC, and Katherine (John Taylor) Murdock of Birmingham, AL, and her beloved first grandchild, Grace Elinor Culver.
In appreciation of the years that the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh, PA, added to Karen’s life, her family requests that memorial gifts be directed to the Immunotherapy Research Fund. Donate HERE online or by mail to UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Suite 1B, 5150 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232.
A celebration of Karen’s life will be held at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens on Sunday, June 8, from 2-4 pm.
