Memorial Service Set for Volunteer Karen Hochadel

A memorial service will be held Friday for Karen Hochadel, a longtime community volunteer and 30-year resident of Balboa Island.

Hochadel died unexpectedly Tuesday at Hoag Hospital. She was 54.

A state Senate resolution in 1988, authored by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), recognized Hochadel for her volunteer work, most notably her continuing PTA service.

“Karen was a close family friend,” Bergeson said Wednesday. “Her energy and friendship were contagious, and she always had time for the people and causes that needed her. She made a real difference. We will miss her deeply.”

A former schoolteacher, Hochadel was president of the Corona del Mar High School Parent-Teacher Assn. for two years and was a member of the school’s pep squad and aquatics boosters.

She also helped form and served on the Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation, was president of the Harbor Council PTA, president of National Charity League, chairwoman of the Corona del Mar Political Action Committee Advisory Council, and a member of the Parent Zone Advisory Committee for eight years.

Other activities included membership in Newport Harbor Republican Women for 18 years, trustee of Plymouth Congregational Church, and membership in the Hoag Hospital Auxiliary.

“More than anyone I know, Karen had the ability to mobilize the positive energies of people,” said Sherry Loofbourrow, a member of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education.

Hochadel is survived by her husband, Jack; children, Julie, John and Jill; mother Anne Kerns, and sister Sharon Kerns.

The memorial service will be at 12:30 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 600 St. Andrews Road. Her ashes will be scattered at sea at 9 a.m. Saturday at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club aboard the yacht Rincon.

The family asks that instead of flowers, donations be made to establish the Karen Kerns Hochadel Annual Memorial College Scholarship, which would be presented to a Corona del Mar High School senior for outstanding dedication to community service. Donations can be sent to Karen Kerns Hochadel Scholarship, P.O. Box 5927, Newport Beach, Calif. 92662.