Karen Marie Hess

Karen Marie Hess, 83, of Porter Ranch, CA, beloved wife of Larry T Hess, the love of her life, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 22, at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, after a fall at home and many health setbacks in recent years, with Larry and son Aaron with his partner Patty Alvarez at her side.

Karen was born July 8, 1942 in Chicago, IL, to Winifred (“Wini” née Wember) and Arthur Karlstedt and was later legally adopted by Victor J Zuris, fireman and love of Wini’s life, in 1948, after Wini remarried. Vic was smart enough to realize the path to Wini’s heart lay through Karen and proposed to Karen with a daisy ring before presenting Wini with an engagement ring of her own.

Karen soon became a second mom to siblings John Thomas, Nanci Louise, Thomas Anthony, Mary Anne, Jane Elizabeth, Joseph Paul and Richard Paul Zuris.

Karen married Jeffrey George Moller in Chicago in 1963. Their children, Matthew George Moller and Cynthia Marie Moller (now Moreno) came along soon after. They all ended up relocating to Northridge, CA to be closer to Karen’s parents and siblings who had moved there in 1964. When Karen was later married to Larry in December, 1980, she welcomed new sons Lance and Aaron Hess.

Karen graduated from the Fox School of Business in Chicago and became an administrative assistant extraordinaire – even appearing in a television ad for one of her employers, before marrying for the first time. After her divorce from Jeff, she went back to secretarial work (among other jobs) and ended up meeting her “Big Guy”, Larry (an assistant brewer), while working as admin assistant to the Master Brewer at Stroh Brewery in Van Nuys, CA. Larry just “happened” to find reasons to come by the boss’s office and regaled Karen with jokes and laughs (oh, can he laugh!) until the inevitable moment she melted and the rest is history. They had been inseparable since then and Larry was her rock through many health setbacks over the years. But, those years were filled with many travels and adventures with family and friends.

In Chicago Karen had many life-long friends (her “club”) with whom she kept up with and saw over the span of most of her childhood and adult life.

She also pursued other admin assistant jobs, working for many years at Sony Pictures Entertainment and latterly for Cal State Northridge in the IT department, where she also was able to take several classes in art which had always been a passion of hers. She was a crocheter extraordinaire (blankets, throws, even beautiful custom purses), a painter (her house is filled with her artworks), a fix it person around the house (even replacing a toilet once!) a jigsaw and crossword puzzle aficionado, a great cook (Larry and all her kids will attest to Sunday dinners being “the best meal I ever had!”) and an all-round lover of life and family.

Karen was preceded in death by her parents, Vic and Wini Zuris, formerly of Paradise CA and her natural father, Arthur Karlstedt, in addition to her siblings John Zuris, Thomas Zuris and Jane (née Zuris) Ahlswede.

Karen is survived by son Matthew Moller of Mesa, AZ; daughter Cindy Moreno with husband Robert (Bob) Moreno and children Katie Marie Moreno and Robert (Bobby) Jeffrey Moreno of Sanford, NC; son Lance Hess of American Fork, UT, with three daughters: DeNeige Hess of West Jordan, UT and daughter Vanessa Simmonds (Alex Simmonds) of Boise, ID and grandsons Merlin and Meriadoc Simmonds, and daughter Savannah Hess of Logan, UT; and by Aaron Hess of Encino, CA with his partner Patty Alvarez.

A celebration of Karen’s life will be held at Noon on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Rudd Funeral Home- Tremonton (111 N. 100 E. Tremonton, UT 84337) with interment at Fielding City Cemetery (17145 N. 4400 W. Fielding UT 84311), followed by a luncheon in the Hampton Inn Tremonton (2145 W. Main St. Tremonton UT 84337).