Mrs. Karen Jo Chaney

Mrs. Karen Jo Chaney, a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, completed her earthly journey on Wednesday morning, August 19, 2026. She was 70 years old. She fought the good fight, she finished her course, and she kept the faith. Her family takes comfort in knowing that she is safely home with her Savior. 

Karen, affectionately known as “Rooney Tunes,” “Mama,” and “Gamaw,” was born on March 6, 1956, in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was a daughter of the late Kenneth W. “Ken” Lawrence and Dorothy Afton Lawrence. She moved with her family to Missouri, where she met the love of her life, Doy Vaughn Chaney. They married on April 7, 1972, which was Doy’s 20th birthday, making sure he would never have an excuse for forgetting their anniversary. Karen was a homemaker and a devoted mother who always made sure her children had everything they needed. She faithfully supported her husband wherever life took them, whether to San Antonio while Doy served in the Army or to Saudi Arabia, where they lived twice while he worked as an aircraft mechanic for Saudi Airlines. Wherever they went, Karen made it home. She also supported her entire family in every season of life. Whether helping her daughter in Hawaii, cheering at football, baseball, softball, and cheerleading events, or joining the campaign trail, Karen always did her best to be present. Everyone knew when Gamaw was there. 

Karen enjoyed cooking and baking and was especially known for her exceptional chicken wings, which earned her the title at the State Chicken Wing Ding at Stone Mountain two years in a row. She also loved experimenting with new recipes. Fortunately for her family, most of those experiments were delicious. Karen loved the holidays and was an intense decorator. She had tons of decorations for every occasion and went all out, especially for Christmas and Halloween. When Karen decorated, no room or available surface was safe from the holiday spirit. She especially loved decorating Christmas cookies with her grandchildren. An avid collector of ceramic unicorns, Karen had far too many to count, though she likely would have disagreed that there could ever be too many. She also enjoyed painting, diamond art, crossword puzzles, word searches, sudoku, and her devotional coloring book. Karen loved life and found joy in the simple pleasure of being at home. She loved music, and when she cleaned, she could often be found with it turned up full blast, putting on a rock concert of her own. She had an infectious sense of humor and could find laughter in almost any situation, which, depending on the situation, could be either a very good thing or a very bad thing. Karen was a member of Northside Christian Church. Her faith, love, laughter, and unwavering devotion to her family will remain a treasured part of the lives of all who knew and loved her. 

Karen leaves behind to cherish her memory the love of her life of 54 years, Doy Chaney, to whom she will always be his “Rooney Tunes”; her daughter, Kenna Sue Willingham; her son, Jereme James (Christy) Chaney; her grandchildren, Troy Vaughn Chaney, Charles Ethan James Willingham, Kimmie Sue Willingham, Charlee JoLynn Chaney, and Bode Allen Chaney; and her great grandchildren, Lucas and Violet. She is also survived by her sisters, Julie (Ed) Swindler; Debbie (Robert) Austin; Melody (Jack) Chatburn; and Tina (Robert) Kaiser; her several nieces and nephews; and her fur baby, Lucy. 

In addition to her parents, Karen was preceded in death by her sister, Linda Bentley, and her brothers, Michael Lawrence and Randy Lawrence.

A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, August 23, at 3:00 PM, at Northside Christian Church. Her son, Pastor Jereme Chaney will officiate. The family will receive friends on Saturday evening from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at Fletcher-Day Funeral Home. In accordance with her wishes, she will be cremated following the service. 

Karen loved flowers, so flowers will be accepted for the service, or memorial contributions can be made to Northside Christian Church, 423 East County Road, Thomaston, GA 30286 or to The Gideons International, P.O. Box 1034, Thomaston, GA 30286. 

Fletcher-Day Funeral Home of Thomaston is honored to serve the Chaney family. Condolences and remembrances may be expressed at fletcherdayfuneralhome.com.