Obituary for Karen O'Donnell D.D.S. at Tews-Ryan Funeral Home (2024)

“Story...was crucial to our evolution – more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; story told us what to hang on to.” – Lisa Cron, Wired for Story

There will be some great stories being swapped in Heaven.

Dr. Karen Marie Wright O’Donnell, DDS, longtime Homewood dentist and the driving force behind the South Suburban storytelling scene, passed away on September 2, 2024, after valiantly battling cancer.

Dr. Karen always did things her own way. She came into this life on her own terms – her father was hoping she would be born on May 5, 1955 – 5/5/55 – but instead she arrived a day early. And she left this life on her own terms. Karen was 69.

The Homewood dentist launched Homewood Stories, still the only storytelling event in the South Suburbs, more than 10 years ago. Dr. Karen was inspired by the reaction of audiences at Chicago storytelling events to her favorite story, about her mother’s fudge. That led her to bring the storytelling tradition to the South Suburbs in the form of Homewood Stories, which continues to grow, with shows every third Tuesday of the month at the Flossmoor Community Church. It will be her legacy.

Dr. Karen loved the fudge her mother used to make at Christmas. When her niece, Liz Hildebrand, found the recipe, Dr. Karen tried to recreate it. But when tasting the fudge, Dr. Karen struggled to identify a crucial ingredient that seemed to be missing.

Only when she realized that the missing ingredient was love – she told audiences – did the fudge taste as good as her mom’s. Then Dr. Karen handed her lovingly made fudge out to audiences after finishing.

“I believed just like in Communion, do this in remembrance of me – my mom,” Dr. Karen would say.

Dr. Karen produced, hosted and told stories at the rave-reviewed monthly Homewood Stories shows for more than a decade, relentlessly continuing even after she was diagnosed with cancer. She firmly believed that she and her fellow storytellers were doing something much more than storytelling – they were bringing people together to share gifts, which is the heart of the human spirit, and which meets an essential need in community and humanity.

“Oral communication and written communication are very different,” Dr. Karen told the HF Chronicle in a story celebrating Homewood Stories’ 10th Anniversary earlier this year. “We all have personal experiences that could be a story. The key is that all the stories told at Homewood Stories are true, not fairytales, not SciFi.”

In addition to Homewood Stories, Dr. Karen was also a certified story coach, trainer and speaker, teaching storytelling in “StoryShop” classes to individuals and groups for business, leadership and fun. StoryShop helped first-time storytellers to overcome any anxiety they may have to speak in front of an audience and to develop engaging stories.

“I want to see the ‘you’ in every story, and I am so excited to bring people together to share gifts of the heart,” Dr. Karen told the HF Chronicle earlier this year. “I want to make sure the audience leaves uplifted. After all, they are coming here to have a good time.”

After first working as a dental hygienist, Dr. Karen graduated from the University of Illinois- Chicago in 1984 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. She was also named the Outstanding Student in Dental Studies at UIC.

Dr. Karen went on to perform comprehensive restorative dentistry in Homewood for more than three decades, captivating her patients with her stories along the way. Of course, they weren’t just captivated – they were also a captive audience, since she usually had sharp instruments in their mouths.

Dr. Karen studied improvisational theatre at Comedy Sportz in Chicago, served as a mentor trainer and facilitator with Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, William E. Bailey and other leaders in the personal development field, and was also the first woman member accepted into the Calumet Country Club in Homewood.

Dr. Karen was preceded in ascending into the Lord’s heavenly graces by her parents, Dr. Francis and Mary Wright, her oldest brother James Wright (Sue), and her oldest sister, Catherine (John) Scheffki. Dr. Karen is survived by her stepmother, Ma Marj (Marjorie) Wright; sisters Deborah (Mike) Cook, Vivian (Todd) Wright-Panagopoulos and Mary “Mickey” (Pat) Burke; and brothers Vernon, Kevin (Machelle), Stephen (Allen Shechtman), William (Marie) and Phranque Wright. They will all miss her effervescent smile and love.

Fun-loving Aunt Karen was adored and will be sorely missed by her 13 nieces and nephews, 17 grandnieces and grandnephews, and seven great grandnieces and great grand nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Dr. Francis Wright Scholarship Fund for the dental hygienist program at the Prairie State College Foundation, Prairie State College, 202 S. Halsted St., Chicago Heights, IL 60411; or by calling 708.709.7918. pscfoundation@prairiestate. edu.

And now, somewhere up in Heaven, Dr. Karen is telling stories to her dad, brother Jim and sister Cathy, while her mom passes out fudge.

With love.

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