Karen Bender Pattakos, 51, of Red Bank , passed away on May 23. Karen was a native of Staten Island, New York, where she attended O.L.G.C. and Notre Dame Academy. She studied Architecture and Hotel Restaurant Management at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and Alexandria, Virginia. She also studied at Oxford University on a Fellowship.
Karen spent 10 years in Alexandria as a Commercial Kitchen Designer where her designs included the D.C. Post Office and the National Rifle Association’s new building in Fairfax, Virginia. She then worked for five years as executive chef and restaurant manager for the NRA. She moved to Red Bank and opened a catering business and worked as a personal chef. Most recently she was the executive chef at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank. While working for Meridian she also completed a master’s degree. Karen married Constantine Pattakos in 2007 on the Island of Crete. Karen and her husband were avid theater-goers and New York Ranger fans. She was an accomplished cake chef and supplied amazing delicious designs for businesses, family and friends.
In addition to her beloved husband, she is survived by her parents George and Denise Bender, sister Denise Harford, brother Chris and his wife Maureen, sister Gerilyn and her husband Michael, brother Tim and his wife Sondra, brother-in-law Nicholas, sister-in-law Cornelia and her husband John, sister-in-law Dorothy and ten nieces and nephews.
A Memorial Mass will be held at St. Anthony of Padua RC Church, 121 Bridge Ave., Red Bank, at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 1. The Thompson Memorial Home, 310 Broad St., Red Bank, is entrusted with the arrangements.
