Dr. Karen M. Peacock: 1948-2010


It is with deep sadness that we report the passing of Dr. Karen M. Peacock.

Karen Peacock was professor emeritus and retired curator of the Pacific Collection, Hamilton Library, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.  She passed away peacefully on August 13, 2010 after a ten-month battle with cancer.

Karen's career with the UH Library spanned more than thirty years.  She began in the Pacific Collection, where she briefly worked in a temporary position before moving into a tenure-track position with the Social Sciences & Humanities reference department.  She returned to the Pacific Collection in 1980 as a Pacific specialist and in 1987 assumed curatorship of the collection upon the retirement of R. Renee Heyum.  In addition to her work as curator of the Pacific Collection, she also served as department head for the Hawaiian & Pacific Collections (formerly Special Collections) at Hamilton Library from 2001 until her retirement.  Karen became ill late last year and officially retired on February 1st of this year.

Born in Richmond, Indiana, Karen spent her childhood years in Micronesia where her father, Daniel J. Peacock, served as the director of library services during the Trust Territory era. After receiving her BA from Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana), she returned to Micronesia, and in Saipan she worked briefly for the Congress of Micronesia, then as a teacher at Marianas High School.

Karen received her Masters of Library Science in 1973, an MA in Pacific Studies in 1978 and PhD in Pacific History in 1990.  She has more than twenty publications to her credit and served at various times on the editorial boards of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies' Pacific monograph series, and for the journals The Contemporary Pacific, Pacific Studies (BYU-Hawai'i), and the Micronesian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Karen was devoted to the Pacific, especially Micronesia.  She gave a great deal of her time and energy to supporting the work of Pacific libraries and archives, while also advising and mentoring many of the islanders with whom she came into contact. In recognition of her efforts, she was honored by the Pacific Islands Association of Libraries and Archives with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.  Other awards bestowed upon her included the Outstanding Alumni Award by the UH School of Library and Information Studies, the UH Library's Nina D.P. Horio Excellence in Librarianship Award, and the Dr. Sarah K. Vann Professional Services Award (UH Library and Information Studies program).

Karen is survied by her life partner, Kim Haines, father Daniel J. Peacock, sister Paula Bertolin (brother-in-law Gordon), brother Daniel L. (sister-in-law Lisa) and nieces Caroline and Beth Bertolin.

Arrangements for a memorial service are still pending at this time.

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