Obituary of Karline Tierney

Karline Koenen Tierney, 96, passed away on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

Karline was born in Auburn, New York on May 2, 1926. She was the middle daughter of three girls born to Jane Theobald Koenen and Karl J. Koenen. 

With encouragement from her mother, she attended Nazareth College in Rochester, New York where she had her first experience with activism as the National Student Association was forming.

In 1948 she earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and began working at the Office of Rubber Reserve in Washington, D.C., which had been formed to oversee the development of synthetic rubber during World War II.

In 1949 she married Martin J. Tierney, also a chemist, and together they lived in Waterbury, Connecticut. The couple adopted three children and were foster parents to five others. In 1965 they moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for Martin‘s work. 

In Louisiana, Karline became active in the women’s rights movement. She held various state and national positions with the American Association of University Women (AAUW), National Organization for Women (NOW), National Woman’s Party, and was a founding member of the Louisiana Women’s Political Caucus where she served as chair of Women in Politics for two years. She was particularly active in working for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and directed ERA United from 1972 through 1975. She also served as treasurer and on the Audit Finance Committee of the Southern Mutual Help Association (SMHA). Later, Karline was honored as a Veteran Feminist of America (veteranfeministsofamerica.org/vfa-pioneer-histories-project-karline-tierney/). 

While in Louisiana, Karline sought to return to work in the chemical industry. While seeking employment she was notified that one particular company had all male employees and intended to keep it that way. She was given approval to seek legal redress by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and filed a lawsuit which was settled in her favor. 

Shortly after, she was employed as the first female process engineer at the Baton Rouge North works of Allied Chemical Corp. and then at CIBA-Geigy Corp. (now Novartis). When she was transferred to CIBA’s corporate office in Ardsley, New York in 1985, the family moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Karline retired from CIBA as Manager of Environmental Protection and a Superfund specialist in 1993. In 1998, Martin and Karline moved to the Charlestown retirement community in Catonsville, Maryland where she became the first resident elected to the board of directors. 

Karline is survived by her children, Martin J. Tierney, Jr. of Hagerstown, Maryland and Mary Clare Conlon of Temecula, California. Also surviving are two grandsons, Martin J. Tierney III and Paul Logan Tierney and his wife Felicia, as well as two great-granddaughters, Isabella and Annabella, all of Hagerstown. In addition, she is survived by many nieces and nephews of multiple generations.

Karline was predeceased by her husband; son Karl Tierney; daughter-in-law Constance (“Connie”); and sisters Dr. Jane Yvonne Koenen and Marion Koenen Perri. 

A memorial mass will be held on Monday, May 1 at 12:30 p.m. at Our Lady of the Angels Chapel on the Charlestown campus, 711 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the American Association of University Women (aauw.org) or Southern Mutual Help Association (southernmutualhelp.org) would be appreciated by the family.

Please log on to the link below to watch the funeral in real time. The video will begin streaming at 12:45pm on Monday, May 1, 2023. 

https://vimeo.com/event/3356631

Password: Tierney