Our beloved wife and mother, Karen Ridderman, entered into God’s Kingdom on April 23, 2023, after a long battle with multiple myeloma. Her life exemplified a love for all those around her.

Karen Ridderman

Karen was born to Frederick and Arlene Fahner in 1949 in Howard City, Mich. She treasured her childhood growing up on the family farm. When Karen was younger, she enjoyed playing saxophone and piano, participating in church activities and traveling. She attended Western Michigan and graduated with a degree in elementary education and music. After graduating, she was a music teacher in Michigan for nine years.

Karen met Rich and married in 1980. They moved to Warsaw and shortly thereafter started a family together. While she stopped teaching music, she continued to share her love of music as the choir director at Walnut Creek United Methodist Church. She devoted much of her life to raising and nurturing her children. In later years, she volunteered in the community and at the church, sang in a community choir and taught as a substitute teacher, often bringing her guitar to the delight of students. People have never failed to notice her beautiful soul — her goodness, her wisdom, her steadiness and patience, her deep love for others and for her God.

Karen joins her parents in Heaven. She is survived by her husband, Rich; her brother, Jerry (Nancy) Fahner; her children, Nate (Laura) Ridderman, Dayna (Mike) Ridderman and Erica Ridderman; and five grandchildren, Brielle, Caroline, Lucy (Nate) and Connor, Theo (Dayna).

A visitation will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, at Walnut Creek Church, 2033 S. 150W, Warsaw. A Life  Celebration® will follow at 3 p.m. with Pastor Stacy Downing presiding. Burial will take place at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 1, at Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw. Arrangements were entrusted to Titus Funeral Home, 2000 Sheridan St., Warsaw.

The family asks that donations in honor of Karen be made to either the IU Foundation, memo Miles for Myeloma Fund (mailing: https://cancer.iu.edu/giving/support.html or https://give.myiu.org/centers-institutes/I320012669.html) or to UMCOR (https://umcmission.org/ways-to-give/).

To leave a condolence, visit www.TitusFuneralHome.com. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Karen Ridderman, visit the funeral home’s online flower store.