Karen Jo Clements

Funeral services for Karen Jo Clements will be at 10:00 am Wednesday, September 9, 2026, with Chaplain Matt Benedict officiating. Burial will follow at Provence Cemetery with Bobby Clements, Joey Smith, Steven Smith, Jason Qualls, Joe Fine, Sr., and Joe Fine, Jr. serving as pallbearers.

Karen Jo Clements Smith, 66, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, passed away on September 5, 2026. She was born June 26, 1960, in Ardmore.

Karen will be remembered for the love she had for her family, her years spent caring for others, her beautiful smile, and the many little things that made her unmistakably Karen. She was loyal, generous, strong-willed, and wonderfully herself. She loved deeply, and the people closest to her always knew how much they meant to her.

Karen spent many years working as a nurse, including caring for patients in the ICU. Caring for people was an important part of her life, but the role she treasured most was being a mother.

Her son was one of the greatest joys of Karen's life. She was immensely proud of the man he became, and throughout his life, he always knew that his mother had his back.

Some of his most treasured memories are the wonderfully ordinary moments between a mother and her son—the ones that become more precious with time. He remembers her scratching his back while they watched movies, running her fingers through his hair when he was sick, spending days together at the lake, and continuing their tradition of watching movies together even after he was grown. Above all, Karen taught her son what it meant to be loyal.

The birth of her grandson, Levi, brought another great joy into Karen's life. She was there the day he was born and watched him enter the world. Levi held a very special place in his grandmother's heart.

Karen enjoyed the things that made life comfortable and happy: summertime, classic movies, music, flowers, shopping, family gatherings, and her beloved dogs. She loved Young Elvis, Cher and Tina Turner, and had a fondness for lotus flowers and irises. A Diet Coke, some popcorn or chocolate, a good movie, and people she loved nearby could make for a pretty good day. Mexico, particularly Playa del Carmen, was a special place for Karen and became the setting for many happy family memories. There were sunny days, shopping along Fifth Avenue, margaritas with family, and time simply spent together.

Karen had a personality. She could be stubborn and opinionated, with a little rebellious streak that was simply part of her charm. She was also sweet, generous, fiercely loyal, and deeply devoted to the people she loved. One phrase that captured a bit of Karen's approach to life was, “It is what it is.”

Her life had difficult seasons as well as beautiful ones, and those experiences were part of the woman she became. Her son described her in a way that says a great deal in very few words: she loved deeply and she hurt deeply. Later in her life, Karen found her way back to her faith, something that became meaningful to her and to those who loved her.

Those closest to Karen will miss her presence and her beautiful smile. They will miss the conversations, the familiar routines, the family gatherings, and all of the little things they never realized would someday become treasured memories.

They will remember movies watched together, summers at the lake, music playing, shopping trips, sunshine in Mexico, special conversations, crooked pictures on the wall that became a family joke, and a mother's hand running through her son's hair when he didn't feel well.

Most of all, Karen will be remembered for the way she loved her family.

She was a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, a sister, a nurse, and a friend. She was strong-willed and sweet, stubborn and generous, sometimes rebellious, always uniquely herself.

And to the people who loved her, there will simply never be another Karen.