Karen Kleerekoper- Aldine High School

Karen May Kleerekoper was born on January 16, 1971 to parents Koos Kleerekoper and May Martha Doskoch. She was born and raised in Houston, TX. In the late 1980's, she was a student at Aldine High School. She married John W. Madaras on April 5, 1997 in Harris County, TX. More recently in January of 2019, she and her business partner Sam Sann took a big leap by opening a themed gym in Houston's Memorial area. The gym that focused on family memberships, thrived with numerous birthday parties and classes each weekend. However, when COVID came, it disrupted their expansion plans just as they were preparing to move to a larger location. Adding to the difficulties, Karen was diagnosed with stage four lobular carcinoma, a type of breast cancer. Despite these setbacks, Karen remained positive and her dedication to her community shines through, as the gym offers free memberships to those with metastatic breast cancer, reflecting her commitment to support and inspire others. Read more about her story at From a booming ninja warrior gym to a cancer diagnosis, after a hunch something wasn’t right: One woman’s story.