Karen Patrice Skelton passed peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday afternoon, October 28, 2025, at Mt. Greylock in Pittsfield. She was born to the late Roy and Jean Skelton on February 23, 1947 in Flint, Mich.
Karen graduated from Plymouth High School in 1965 in Plymouth, Wis., and later pursued studies in design at the University of Wisconsin. She then developed this creative “bug” after she walked in a pottery studio where she took classes. That is how she and partner Richard Siegel began the most daring business adventure. Soon, they had restored an old barn in the Hamptons to create her pottery. Then Potluck Studios was born. As time went by, Karen developed other interests and became proprietor, graphic designer, and art director at Karen Skelton Design, and also held positions at Potluck Studios, Bellwether Design, Gear Design, and Milton Glasser. Recently, she was a partner and creative director at LookWriteNow.
Karen is survived by her brother Phillip and sister-in-law Annamaria and her best friends, especially Philip Johnson and Thomas Jensen, who checked on her periodically. She was preceded in death by her husband Richard Siegel on March 19, 2004.
In accordance with Karen’s wishes there will be no services. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Alzheimer’s Association in care of Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230. To send remembrances to her family, please visit the funeral home’s website.
