Obituary: Karen J. Eagan

October 24, 1944 – December 25, 2025

January 11, 2026 

Karen J. Eagen, 1944-2025

Karen J. Eagan, born on October 24, 1944, in Bennington, Vermont, slipped away on December 25, 2025, at the McClure Miller Respite House in Colchester. That evening, with both her children beside her, Brenda Hammitt and Chris Hammitt, all three were taking a well-deserved Christmas nap when they awoke to a clatter, to find that Karen had departed.

Karen lived in Waterbury Center, Vermont, since 1982. She loved it there. For 31 of those years, she was married to Marshall Eagan, and they lived happily ever after. Marshall passed on June 13, 2020. For most of those years, she worked at National Life in Montpelier, where she became friends with her coworkers, and they kept in touch throughout the years.

She loved her family very much, as she was close to them all to the end: her four grandchildren, Michael Wright, Zachary Bolduc, Jacoby and Jackson Hammitt; her stepdaughters Teresa Merrill and Julie Morse; her ever-growing number of siblings, including Jennifer Krolak, Paula Cyhers and Jeff Hard; and her daughter-in-law, Sarah Hammitt.

She will be loved and remembered by many for a long time. Christmas Day was a fitting day for her to pass, as she often said, “It is what it is.”

There will be a Celebration of Life for Karen Eagan on May 6, 2026, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Best Western Windjammer Conference Center in South Burlington.

In lieu of flowers, and in memory of this caring woman, her family believes she would greatly appreciate acts of kindness to seniors in your local community – whether that be offering a ride to a doctor’s appointment or the grocery store, donating to the local food shelf, or just calling that friend or relative who could use it.

Arrangements are in the care of Perkins-Parker Funeral Home in Waterbury. To send online condolences, please visit PerkinsParker.com or the funeral home’s Facebook page.