Karen King was born in Winston Salem, North Carolina, the oldest of three children. She met her future husband, Johnny in Myrtle Beach. Johnny was from Sevier County. Karen and Johnny have two sons. John-David is the Director of Construction for Hollingsworth Corporation and Thomas-Paul is the Sevier County Property Assessor. They also have two grandsons, John Caperton (Cape) and Charles Thomas (Charlie). Johnny passed away in October 2014 from liver cancer. She said, “In 2017 thankfully Ron Sharp entered my life and became my life partner.” Karen is retired after 45 years of service from Sevier County Schools.

Karen has numerous professional credentials including Certified County Official, Certified Public Administrator and RSBA (Registered School Business Administrator National and International).

Karen’s previous and current Affiliations include:

• First Baptist Church Sevierville (member, retired finance and budget committee and Sunday School teacher 35 years)
• Sevierville Rotary
• Board of Directors for: United Way, Adult Literacy Council, Leadership Sevier, Sevier County Schools Federal Credit Union, Baptist Hospital Board, Tennessee Association of School Business Officials, Metropolitan Area School Systems, BEP Review Committee, Tennessee Farm Bureau- Sevier County and most recently the State Funding Formula Fiscal Review Committee for funding Education