Roll Call Tribute

Karla J. Lacey 

May 23, 1958 - November 7, 2023 

Karla Lacey, loving mother, wife, and friend, passed away after a cardiac event at home in Los Altos, California on November 7, 2023. She was 65.

Karla was one of a kind. She had an inspiring zest for life, and a limitless supply of funny stories with which she entertained her many, many close friends.

After graduating from Cooper High School in Abilene, Texas, Texas A&M University and the Harvard Business School, Karla enjoyed a successful career as a top business executive including her time leading Colgate teams in Portugal, Argentina and Costa Rica. Her greatest success and her most important source of joy were as the mother of her girls Kelly and Sarah. Karla adored the girls and would quickly transition from a senior business executive to the snack mom at a softball game in Modesto. She delighted in every activity - every sport, every practice, every church choir rehearsal.

Karla was a prolific reader, sometimes finishing an entire book during one night of fitful sleep. Her expansive intellect was only matched by her tremendous capacity for friendship and caring. She served on the Los Altos Stage Company Board and volunteered in many roles at her church, LAUMC, as well as with the Friends of the Library.

Karla is survived by her husband, John Zoglin, daughters Kelly and Sarah, sister Karen Alfaro and her husband Jaime, brother Kevin Lacey and his wife Becky, mother Alice Lacey, and niece Kelly and nephews James, Adam, Joseph, Joshua, Kaijah and Michael, sister-in-law Katie and brother-in-law Bill and his significant-other Chahaya. Karla is predeceased by her father John Lacey.

Donations can be made in Karla’s honor to Los Altos United Methodist Church, El Camino Health Foundation or the American Heart Association.