A vibrant and inclusive community of faith serving the beach cities and westside of Los Angeles
Requiescat in Pace
Karen Annette Scharre
December 24, 1954 - June 5, 2025
June 17, 2025
Dear parish family,
With deep sadness yet the assurance of resurrection, I write to share that Dr. Karen Scharre died at home on June 5, her husband Jerry and son Alex by her side.
Karen was a distinguished pathologist, an accomplished musician and a devoted philanthropist. Before she retired in 2015, she was the director of Breast Pathology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CSMC), and she was a lifelong violinist, playing with the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra as the principal second violinist for years.
But it was among family—her husband, Jerry; their sons, Alex and Jeffrey, their daughters-in-law, Erica and Rachel; their grandson, Owen, and granddaughter, Juniper; and her many siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, and friends—where she found her greatest joy. Traveling with them, gathering in
Pasadena, Mar Vista, Chicago, or Seattle, watching Owen riding a horse or Juniper scaling a mountain in her father’s backpack—provided the moments she treasured the most. Family and friends will always remember her brilliance, her kindness, and her candor.
Karen was quietly elegant but unafraid of speaking her truth–– laconic and enlightening, when she spoke people knew to pay attention.
After a long battle with melanoma, she peacefully departed this world at home in Mar Vista on June 5, 2025. Her loss leaves a hole in the universe.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be given to Orchestra Nova LA, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, or the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. A memorial is being planned for a date later this year.
Please keep Jerry and their extended family in your prayers.
Yours in Christ,
Jennifer Wagner Pavia, Rector
Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with your saints,
where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing,
but life everlasting.