Irene Karlsen Thompson

Irene was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She moved to the Seattle area in 1986. Irene’s parents immigrated from Norway after WW2. With all their extended family still in Norway, Irene spent her summers there. She and her two sisters were raised bilingual and bicultural. After high school, Irene became a Registered Nurse, eventually obtaining five different degrees in nursing, including her Masters and Post Masters. Irene’s nursing career spans 49 years in a variety of roles and settings. She has been an ARNP/Nurse Practitioner for the last 30 years. Her career focus was in Oncology nursing for 40 years and the last nine have been in hospice care. Irene has always been very active in her professional organizations serving on a variety of committees. This includes being past president of her state nursing organization. Irene has extensive experience in public speaking to both professional and lay audiences. Irene and her husband have two adopted children from China. Their son was a student at Northwest School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children from Pre-K through 8th grade. Irene has many hobbies and is also very active with her church. She is currently living in Prescott, Arizona.