Karen Sojka is a master gardener and volunteers at Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church in Shawano. She was born on a farm in Iowa County near Marengo, Iowa.
Sojka graduated from Williamsburg High School and then earned a bachelor of nursing degree from the University of Iowa. She was a staff nurse for two years at the university, then taught there for three years. During that time, she got her master’s in nursing. She married Ken, her husband of 54 years, who earned a law degree, and they moved to Harlan, Iowa, for his practice.
She taught in the practical nursing program at Iowa Western Community College in Harlan for two years, and then Sojka ran the health programs, becoming an associate dean at the college. She was appointed to the Iowa Board of Nursing by the governor from 1982-1988.
“That was a real honor,” she said.
Sojka retired in 1998. In 2005 Ken retired and they moved to Long Lake. She has a garden and recently did shoreline restoration. They have two children and three grandchildren. Sojka likes to fish and has learned to cross-country ski, kayak, swim, and is taking iPad courses and doing genealogy.
Q Where do you volunteer?
A “I am a master gardener. I used to help with the Boy Scouts and was a den mother. We had a foreign exchange student and our daughter went to France. I joined Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church in 2012. At Long Lake we’re into shoreline restoration and invasive species. I’ve been asked to consider to be part of the board.”
Q What do you do as a master gardener?
A “I was in it in Brown County because there wasn’t one here at that time. I joined the Wolf River Master Gardeners in 2007. We have to do a lot of community service. I help with Heritage Park and also things in the community like the apple testing event and at the farmers market. We try to educate.”
Q How do you help your church?
A “My grandfather was a minister in the United Church of Christ in Iowa. I joined Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church in September 2012. We have a group called Prayer Canvassing. It’s an outreach. We go out in twos to try to spread the word about faith. It’s just door to door. We’ve gotten people back to their own church. I help serve once in a while and we take turns making the treats for services.”
Q How did the concert on Nov. 2 come about?
A “I saw a magazine at Pastor Raddatz’s home, the Our Wisconsin magazine. I took it home and saw the article on Shari Sarazin and went on the website to get her phone number and called her. I listened to her music and it’s beautiful. She has a song that is the state ballad. I thought it would be neat for our church and decided to open it up for the community. I selected Nov. 2 because it’s a Packers bye week.”
Q Why do you volunteer?
A “Because I felt that I was so blessed. People were always helpful to me. If I’m able and I can, I like to help people.”
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