Karen E. Cook

(Holley, NY) Karen E. Cook, beloved wife of Roy Nichols, passed away unexpectedly on May 11, 2024 at Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, NY. She was a passionate relationship-builder, achieving excellence in her chosen profession of mortgage banking. She helped many, many families achieve home ownership over her 40+ year career. She was the Innkeeper of Rosewood Bed and Breakfast on Geddes Street in Holley, NY for nearly 30 years, and she loved welcoming visitors and travelers into her home and community. When she wasn’t working, she found creative work restorative. She designed beautiful jewelry, decorated the interior of the B&B and enjoyed the surrounding gardens, once she decided that they weren’t plants and bugs, but more beautiful décor to enjoy. She was an expert on Ancestry.com, and we all have family histories back to the 1500’s now. She was an excellent baker, and enjoyed the creative presentation of baked goods. There was no meeting that wasn’t made better by her cupcakes.

Karen was born in 1951 in Binghamton, NY, the third child of Burton and Eva Cook. She was the second of three sisters. She welcomed her step-daughter Stephanie Galley into her life and home at age eight. Her grandson Brandon Reed spent many summer days with his grandparents in Holley. She is also survived by her older brother, Richard Cook, and his wife and family, Maryland; her older sister Vivian Cook, her husband and family, eastern NY; and her younger sister Mary Cook Langsdorf, her husband and family, California. Karen studied music from an early age with piano and voice lessons and continued to do so through college; she was always her younger sister’s inspiration in choral music. She was a doting aunt to her nieces and nephews, scattered from Washington and California to Maryland and Georgia, and a devoted grandmother to Brandon, in Idaho. She is also mourned by her miniature schnauzers, Maisie and Riley.

Karen will be remembered by all who knew her for her honesty and integrity, but also for her great generosity of spirit and capacity for steadfast friendship and love. Every person whose life she touched was the better for it.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Eastern Orleans Community Center for those needing assistance with food and clothing: https://caoginc.org/. 

Karen’s Celebration of Life is scheduled for September 14 and will be by invitation.

Karen's arrangements have been entrusted to Christopher Mitchell Funeral Home 16650 Route 31 Holley, NY.