Karen "Kadi" Ward Gilbert, 52, of High Bridge Hill Road, Waitsfield, passed away at the Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin on Sunday, December 2, 2007. Born in Montpelier on February 7, 1955, she was the daughter of Holly and Virginia (Larson) Ward. Kadi was previously married to Lisle Gilbert.

Kadi attended Moretown Elementary School, Harwood Union Middle School in Duxbury, the Fox Hollow School in MA, the Westover School in CT and was a 1973 graduate of Institute Montesano in Gstaad, Switzerland. She continued her education at the Katharine Gibbs School in Boston.

A longtime resident of the Mad River Valley, Kadi was a very proud mother of her two daughters, Sarah and Caroline, and was an accomplished equestrian.

Kadi is survived by her children, Sarah W. Gilbert and Caroline E. Gilbert, both of Waitsfield; her father and stepmother, Holly and Peggy Ward of Middlebury; her mother, Virginia Goodfellow of Warren; her sister, Gail Ward-Gould of Scottsdale, AZ; two stepsisters, Willow Blish of Boston, MA, and Amanda Alexander of Sheridan, WY; and a step-niece, Brooke Alexander of Sheridan, WY.

A Celebration of Kadi's Life will be held at the Waitsfield United Church of Christ on Thursday, December 6, at 1 p.m. with a reception to follow in the church dining room. Later inurnment will take place in the Ward family lot in South Duxbury Cemetery. The family requests the flowers be omitted; rather memorial gifts would be appreciated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Vermont Chapter, 1 Marcus Blvd, Suite 203, Albany, NY 12205. To send online condolences, please visit www.perkinsparker.com. Assisting the family is the Perkins-Parker Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Waterbury.