Karen taught at La Porte High School for 21 years and then worked as an Educational Diagnostician for LPISD for 9 years. In 2021 she retired from education and bought the Rothe Companies, Women Owned Small Businesses that contract with NASA and the Department of Defense. Karen has been a resident of La Porte since 1963 and is a 1979 graduate of LPHS. All three of her children graduated from there as well.  Her son Rowen (class of 2023) has Down syndrome and has been a part of the Life skills/Focus program and currently attends the Bulldog Bridge.