Karen Cypher

Karen Marjorie Cypher (Inman), 81, longtime resident of Janesville, Wisconsin, and most recently of McFarland, Wisconsin passed away on April 3, 2025, in McFarland.

Karen was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1943, and went on to become a lifelong educator and musician. She began playing piano as a young child and worked as a church organist during her teen years. She attended Milton College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Pipe Organ Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

She had a passion for classical music and staying home to raise her two children, which led to her career of over 40 years as an in-home piano teacher for hundreds of students on the east side of Janesville. Coupled with her church organist jobs at many Protestant churches in Janesville, Karen had her finger on the pulse of everything going on in her community, much to the chagrin of her children who got away with absolutely nothing. Thanks, Mom.

Karen is remembered by countless students as a caring influence who often listened to their problems in addition to teaching them some piano skills. Karen made sure her students knew about important community resources when the students were too afraid to ask their own parents for help.

Karen was a prolific gift-giver who loved her children and grandchildren in a fiercely protective way. She was known for rescuing many cats and dogs - Muffin the puppy that a piano student hid in their closet and didn’t want to tell their parents about, Fluffy the ten-toed cat, Scratch the cat who earned his name many times over, and Dixie the miniature American Eskimo who was the perfect dog. Her most surprising rescues were Romeo and Julia, a bonded pair of Pomeranians she saw on a Channel 3 at Noon news segment and immediately drove to Madison to adopt, conveniently forgetting to tell her husband Herman about them before he arrived home from work.

Her spirit was feisty, and she will be missed by many.

Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Alan and Marjorie Inman, and her devoted husband, Herman Cypher. She is survived by her brother Lynn (Donna) Inman of Roscoe, Illinois, son David (Karen) Stone of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and daughter Debra (Dave) Kloth of McFarland, Wisconsin. She had four beloved grandchildren - Sam (Jackie) Stone, Christian (Katie) Stone, Benjamin Stone, and Lauren Morse; three nieces: Kim Hevrdejs, Shelly Tosh, and Miki Stark; and a nephew, Brad Inman.

A celebration of her life will be held in Janesville at a later date. In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, donations in Karen’s memory may be made to the Dane County Humane Society to help all of the other animals she would have loved to have brought home with her.