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A Creative Spirit Dedicated to Helping Her Community Through Art

Karen “Lulu” Ezekiel ’56

December 2, 2023, in San Francisco, California.

Karen Kals Ezekiel, known as Lulu, was a creative spirit who dedicated her life to helping her community through art. She was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1935, as Karen Kals; her family changed their surname from Katz to Kals to conceal their Jewish heritage, a fact Lulu learned about much later in her life. Fleeing Austria after Hitler annexed the country in 1938, the family moved to France before immigrating to Vancouver in 1939.

Along with her sister, Maria, Lulu attended the Windsor Mountain School in Massachusetts. She went on to study at Ecole d’Humanité in Switzerland and then attended Reed, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English and psychology in 1956, writing her thesis, “The Uses of the Past in Southern Fiction,” under the mentorship of Prof. Donald MacRae [English 1944–73].

At Reed, Lulu met and married Jonathan “Zeke” Ezekiel ’56. Their marriage lasted until the late 1960s, and the two remained friends after parting ways. After continuing her studies and earning a master of fine arts in painting from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Lulu worked in painting, sculpture, textiles, and illustration, authoring children’s books and painting murals in homes, schools, churches, and health centers.

Through her art and teaching, Lulu sought to improve her community’s mental health. She worked as a mental health counselor and a preschool teacher and program director in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York. From 1975 to 1983, she also taught at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her daily routine included drawing, practicing tai chi, and tending to her beautiful garden and beloved North Beach home.

Appeared in Reed magazine: Spring 2025

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