Born on November 28, 1946, Karen Lee Johnson grew up and graduated from high school in Ardmore, Oklahoma, the town of her birth.  The child of George Kenneth Johnson and Beatty Mae Bailey Johnson, she had one sibling, an older sister, Linda Murphy, who died in 2016.  In 1968 Karen graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor’s of Music Education.  After graduating, she spent an exciting summer as a change girl at Harrah’s Casino in Reno, Nevada, then worked for a year as a media estimator for Grey Advertising in Los Angeles.  

In 1969 she moved to Tulsa and began teaching music in the public schools, where she continued until 1976.  On April 8, 1972, she married John Harrington, a young lawyer.  Their daughter Emily was born in 1975 and their son David in 1979.  In 1981, in their home, she opened her piano studio, and continued teaching piano until her retirement in 2022. 

In 1986, while continuing to teach, she created a board game, Forward March, as an aid to teaching music theory.  Through her new company, Music Games n’ Things, she sold over 10,000 copies of the game nationally, as well as a few in Europe and Australia, where word of the game had spread.  Soon after creating Forward March, she developed a full roster of music teaching games, including Time Out and Perfect Pitch, as well as a framed, illustrated copy of her Recipe for a Successful Piano Lesson.  As a result of her growing reputation, Hal Leonard, the world’s largest music publishing company, asked her to author a series of music theory books to accompany their piano teaching method.  Many of those books are still in print. 

Karen was also active in music teaching organizations, serving as president of the Tulsa Music Teachers’ Association and later as president of the Oklahoma Music Teachers’ Association.  She also served a two-year term on the board of directors of the National Music Teachers’ Association.  Among many awards she received were those of Foundation Fellow of the National Music Teachers Association and Fellow of the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association.  She loved sharing music with friends as a member of the Piano Study Club and Wednesday Morning Musicale and single handedly raised money for the purchase of Clavinovas (electronic keyboards and digital music instruments) for the Alzheimer’s units of Trinity Woods and St. Simeon’s.  After installation of the Clavinovas, she helped train staff of the units and recruited music teachers to play for the patients.  Her most important contribution to music, however, was the devotion and high standards she brought to teaching her students and the skill and love of music with which she left them. 

She was a good bowler, once bowling a 299 game, and an accomplished cook, and brought warmth, humanity, and good humor to everyone she knew.  Above all, she gave her family unstinting care, love, and support.  During the last twenty years of her life, with bravery and determination she overcame cancer and heart disease and lived a full life, until on December 14, 2025, she succumbed to myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow disease.  She is survived by her husband John, son David, daughter Emily, son-in-law Debashis Ghosh, and grandchildren Mira and Leena Ghosh.  

Her memorial service will be held 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at Trinity Episcopal Church, where she served on the Altar Guild.  Instead of sending of flowers, please contribute to the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society.

Ninde Funeral & Cremation | (918) 742-5556 | ninde.com