Alice Lee Karas

Alice Lee Mathis Karas March 23, 1925 – March 24, 2015 Alice Karas passed away peacefully on March 24, 2015, one day following her 90th birthday, in her home in Waukegan, Illinois. Friends and family members gathered the weekend before to celebrate her birthday. She was born March 23, 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts to Ernest Laverne Mathis and Lyndal Ragains. When Alice was 6, her father passed away. Her mother later married Earl Ackley Browning, who raised Alice as a daughter. Alice married Phokion Karas, with whom she had three children. She graduated from Emerson College in Boston and taught English at Bryant and Stratton Junior College. Alice received a Master of Library Science Degree from Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. She taught English at the Provo Canyon School, where she directed several dramatic productions. Alice was the editor of The Herbalist and New Health magazines. She later worked as the librarian at Carmel High School in Mundelein, Illinois. Family was at the center of Alice’s life. She also loved to travel and visited more than 15 countries, making new friends wherever she visited. She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in a number of leadership and teaching roles, including as a full-time missionary from 1995-96 in the Texas Houston East Mission. She was an ordinance worker in the Chicago Temple for many years. She is survived by her son Michael Karas of Redding, California and daughter Katina (David) Stuart of Waukegan, Illinois; grandchildren Christopher, Jarrod, Sarah, Davey and RJ; great grandchildren; brother, Daniel Mathis of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania; and sisters, Sally Lionetti of Simi Valley, California and Carol (Brij) Prasad of Chelmsford, Massachusetts; and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Miriamne; her parents; a brother, James Mathis; and a sister, Louise Shumway. Funeral services will be held Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 411 N. O’Plaine Road, Gurnee, IL. Interment will occur later, near the family farm on Spring Hill near Wyalusing, Pennsylvania.