On Sunday, Treasurer Maria Pappas remembered Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough as a friend and dedicated public servant who demonstrated that politicians of different races can successfully work together. “Karen Yarborough and I had a friendship that crossed racial lines. If all blacks and whites got along as well as we did, the city, state, and county would be a better place to live. We were soul sisters and gossip buddies. She is irreplaceable in politics because she represented kindness and compassion. She never had two stories. It’s a totally different ball game today. Karen had an innate, God-given talent of compassion that can’t be taught. She was born with a gift of kindness. I don’t know who in the Democratic Party is that gifted. I will miss my locker buddy across the hall.”