Karen S. Lane

LANE, Karen, creator of the Feast of Love charity, had described herself as “a shrew and a wretch” before she opened her heart to God. Saturday, one of the most visible parts of her redemption will be the Feast of Love’s annual parade through College Hill’s business district. Harder to see but no less impactful are the thousands of local needy families Mrs. Lane’s organization has fed over 27 years of charitable work with the College Hill Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Lane, 70, died Thursday at Christ Hospital after battling pancreatic cancer. The fiery activist for the needy told The Enquirer in 2010 that her early years growing up in Canton included many obstacles and that bitterness stayed with her for years. “I could cuss out, tear you up – I was nasty,” said Mrs. Lane, who moved to Cincinnati in the 1970s. “I was in terrible emotional pain.” In 1986, the longtime Northside resident – who worked in sales and for years as a waitress at the former Shuller’s Wigwam in College Hill – realized that healing prayer from her immersion in Christianity had also triggered a missionary zeal to help the needy. “I was always the one sitting on the sidelines and I wasn’t on the playing field,’’ she said. “I wanted to be on the playing field.” That year, she founded the ecumenical ministry Feast of Love at College Hill Presbyterian Church that later included involvement from St. Clare Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Community Church. Its original purpose of providing Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Father’s Day dinners to low-income families expanded over the years to include other charitable services and now has 120 volunteers. Saturday’s “Holiday On The Hill” parade, which begins at 11 a.m. and travels a half-mile north from the College Hill church to North Bend Road, will have more than 28 local organizations, businesses and other charitable groups participating. Organizers said it will be dedicated to honoring Mrs. Lane’s legacy of giving. Barry Stare, a ministry partner and friend, said the parade is just one of the more high-profile reminders of how she was a force for good. “She was an incredible visionary, a spark plug and a thorn in the side at times to some people but it was for a good cause,” Stare said. “Karen saw a need and went at it as a tenacious advocate.” Bev Graves, friend and now interim director of Feast of Love, said “she was kind of crusty but she had a heart of gold.” “Her main thing was being there for children and the poor. She used to call herself the co-founder of Feast of Love, saying the other founder was God.” Survivors include a son, Jeff Lane of London, Ohio. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Dec. 9 at College Hill Presbyterian Church, 5742 Hamilton Ave., and will be followed by a reception at the church. Memorials: Feast of Love, 5742 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45224.