It is with deep sadness that we have learned that our classmate Karen Zander, RN, MS, CMAC, FAAN, and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from IWU, died in her sleep from complications of FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration) on the morning of August 30th.

Karen was given the IWU Robert Montgomery Outstanding Young Alum award in 1980 and The School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996. The Class of 1970 Reunion Committee had created a special Class of 1970 Lifetime Achievement Award for Karen, to be presented this fall at our Reunion. It will be presented posthumously to her husband, Bernie Metzger, during our Virtual Reunion ZOOM on October 6 at 7:30 Central Time.

Karen was the principal and one of the original founders of The Center for Case Management. Her pioneering work with clinical case management and CareMap(r) systems began at New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston and is internationally recognized. She authored many articles and authored and co-authored many books and was a true icon in the field. She was in demand as a presenter and consultant at healthcare provider organizations around the world. Her work touched hundreds of hospitals and has had a major impact in actually changing the way nurses manage their practices, and care for patients. It can truly be said that her work and sharing her learning helped practicing nurses ease suffering, promote health and save lives.

She was also a certified psychotherapist and held faculty positions at several universities.

Even when she became paralyzed in 2007, after complications from surgery, and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, she continued to travel the world to assist clients and present to meetings, working consistently until selling her company two years ago. Attending the IWU Class of 70 Forty Year Reunion was a major effort for her and prior to her dementia diagnosis, she had been looking forward to our 50th.

At IWU she was involved in as many activities as nursing majors, with their demanding classroom and clinical work, could manage, including holding offices for three years in Sigma Kappa Sorority, where she served as president in 1969-70. Her SK sisters universally recall one quality that they will never forget: her beautiful, oft-heard laugh, a laugh that engaged and inspired all of us. “She had the ability to take a problem or a troubling situation and calmly work through to a solution. She was an ideal president.” In 2016 Karen responded to the University’s need to update Stevenson Hall for the next generation of nursing students and named the Garden Level Recruitment Coordinator Office, Karen S. Zander, RN, MS, CMAC, FAAN ’70 .

Karen is survived by her daughters Elise and Victoria Metzger, sons-in-law Marco Morales and Douglas Johnston, and her tirelessly devoted and exceptionally romantic husband and best friend of 43 years, Bernhard Metzger.  Her daughter Elise wrote; “The beauty and joy that this world had to offer was never lost on her and she never took it for granted. She also understood the pains of this life for both humans and animals and made charitable giving a large priority..

She felt deeply connected to the people and the world around her and often said that it was her relationships with others that made her happiest. If you knew Karen, you could truly feel this. She gave everyone the love and acceptance they might need. We are also so grateful that she held on to witness the marriage of her daughter Victoria to Douglas Johnston on August 22, 2020. “

Her colleagues at the Center for ftd-boston.org Case Management wrote “I think she would want to be remembered for her innovative ideas, pure delight in collaboration, and her gift of encouraging others to feel confidence and worth. Karen’s gift to all of us is not what she taught us in case management, but what she taught us in life . . .love unconditionally, share generously and be true to your good instincts.”

A memorial service will be held in her honor, both with limited in-person capacity, and over ZOOM for anyone who would like to join. Details will be announced later this week.  More information may be found regarding memorials here and here.