Karen Ann (Hoyt) Bellas, age 82 of Sioux Falls, SD, passed away Sunday, August 18, 2024, at her home in Sioux Falls. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, August 22, 2024, at Holy Name Catholic Church in Marcus, IA. Father Tim Pick will officiate. Visitation with the family present will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. The Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Marcus, IA, is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.greenwoodfuneral.com.
Karen Ann Hoyt Bellas was born on January 28, 1942, to Donald and Callista Hoyt.
She graduated from Holy Name High School in Marcus, Iowa in 1960.
She completed her nurse’s training at Mercy Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa. Karen later joined the Hospital Sisters of Saint Francis in Springfield, Illinois. During that time, she did missionary work in Taiwan from 1974 – 1976. Her nursing career also included hospitals in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Springfield, Illinois. From there she went on to work in Washington, D.C. where she met her husband, Jim. They were married on May 14, 1994. Karen’s passion was ministering to homeless individuals suffering with physical/mental health issues, untreated addictions, and extreme poverty.
Their favorite pastime was golfing together, and Karen became an excellent golfer, even achieving a hole-in-one.
She is survived by her husband Jim Bellas of Sioux Falls, her siblings, Linda Spieler, Randy (Deb) Hoyt of Runnells, IA, Rita (Tom) Nuebel of Milford, IA, Sue Tritz of Remsen, IA, and Jeani Baumann of Omaha, NE. and several nieces and nephews and friends.
Karen is preceded in death by her parents, Donald and Callista Hoyt and stepmother, Agnes Baumann Hoyt, brother-in-law, Merle Spieler, and brother-in-law Frank Tritz.