Mrs. Karen Gilhousen, long-time YTI board member and friend of the institute, passed away on December 22, 2024. In this issue of Inscribed, we remember Karen’s life and legacy.
Karen Gilhousen was one of the first people I met when I arrived in Bozeman. This was the first time I had ever visited Bozeman, and I had been invited to interview with the First Baptist Church. The committee had arranged for me to stay at the Gilhousen “Guest House” during my stay. I had no idea who Karen or her husband Klein were. I did not know their history, anything about Qualcomm – which Klein helped found – or what wonderful friends they would turn-out to be! Karen and Klein were just ordinary folks with extraordinary lives.
Although I had always been hesitant to consider pastoring in churches that had people with great wealth in their membership, Karen and Klein were different. Karen and Klein became dear friends to Melissa, Catherine, Hannah, and myself. Karen became a devoted friend and big sister to me. She was a lovely human being. I will never forget what Klein first said to me when I met him in October 2010 – “So, I see that you have met my trophy wife!” They treasured each other to the very end.
The manager’s home at Copper Spring Ranch – Karen and Klein’s equine estate – became the first home to YTI during my presidency. We held our Christmas dinners there, had our summer cookouts there, and housed visiting soccer teams there! Karen had a servant’s heart, and desired that YTI always provide quality, affordable theological education in our changing world. In her last few years, I came to know Karen’s assistants very well – John, Dallas, Rudy, and Laura. With her brother Kevin, and her chef-handyman Bill, all of us became family to her. I taught Bible studies at her home, and went to Green Lake, WI, for summer renewal ministries conferences with Karen and Klein. Karen was a believer in YTI. She knew that Montana needed YTI, and needed to have a unique program to prepare students for ministry in the 21st century. Towards the end, she attended the Reformed Baptist Church in Bozeman. As innovative as she desired YTI to be, deep down, she was an old-fashioned, King James Bible–reading, hymn-singing Christian.
With Karen’s passing, an era has ended. With Karen and Klein, I learned truly not to judge a person by their checkbook. Karen was a girl from Michigan, who fell in love with a boy from Texas, who loved God, husband, family, and friends deeply. Her love will always be a part of YTI’s DNA.