The Influence and Legacy of Coco's Restaurateur and Dayton Icon Karen Wick

By Alexis Larsen, Dine Out Dayton Correspondent, December 8, 2025

When news broke on Sunday, Dec. 7, that Coco’s Bistro co-owner and Dayton civic leader Karen Wick had passed away, the reaction across the Miami Valley was immediate and deeply felt.

In my more than two decades writing about Dayton’s dining community, I cannot recall another moment when grief and gratitude rose so swiftly, side by side. Social media filled with thousands of tributes, from elected officials and business leaders to former staff members, diners, and friends, all sharing memories of a woman who shaped this city simply by being herself and leading with heart. Each one carried the same sentiment: Karen was not only respected, she was cherished. She wasn’t just successful, she was extraordinary. She wasn’t just kind, she was grounding, steadying and somehow always exactly what you needed her to be in the moment.

In an industry where women are dramatically underrepresented as owners, decision-makers and long-term leaders, Karen Wick built something remarkable. For nearly 30 years, she ran one of Dayton’s most enduring and influential independent restaurants. She did it without fanfare, without shortcuts and without ever compromising her values. She succeeded in a way that is rare in this business and even rarer for a woman. Her restaurant was not only financially resilient, but it became a cultural and civic touchstone. In an industry known for burnout, turnover and unpredictability, she endured. She thrived. She led.

At lunch, Coco’s Bistro became one of the most essential gathering spaces in Dayton’s business landscape, where partnerships were built, ideas refined and major initiatives quietly set into motion. At dinner, it transformed into something different: a destination for celebration, a place where friends and families came to break bread, savor good food and enjoy the moments that mattered most. And at the center of it all was Karen. She built Coco’s into a rare kind of institution: part dining room, part civic space, part creative hub and part home for the people who helped drive Dayton forward.

I have had the unique privilege of interviewing Karen many times in my more than twenty years writing about food and dining in our region. Those conversations were never just about menus or promotions; they were about strategy, risk, responsibility and community. Karen understood something many people forget: restaurants aren’t just businesses. They are ecosystems built on trust, consistency, empathy and the belief that gathering around a table changes people. She embodied all of that. She was candid, insightful, visionary and endlessly warm. I was fortunate not only to cover her work, but to know her well enough to call her my friend.

Coco’s itself was born from her lived experience. Raised in Versailles by a truck driver and a school bus driver, she grew up with the values of hard work, humility and showing up for others. After high school, she moved to Dayton and began a nearly 20-year career at Reynolds & Reynolds before stepping away to raise her children. When her daughter, Coco, was born, Karen felt a pull toward something more community-centered. That spark became Coco’s Bistro, a business she built with intention, beauty and a belief that people need places where they feel seen.

And she delivered on that belief every single day.

Coco’s quickly became a place where Dayton’s leaders felt comfortable dreaming out loud, discussing hard issues and celebrating milestones. Karen proved herself not only a visionary restaurateur but an exceptional businesswoman juggling operations, staff, philanthropy, civic leadership and family with a grace that made it all look effortless. Her success wasn’t an accident. It was the product of discipline, talent and intuition. She built something sustainable in a field where sustainability is rare. She made it work, and she made it meaningful.

Karen Wick had a gift for making every person she encountered feel like they mattered, with a presence that should be cherished and a story that mattered. Some people shape a community through big gestures, but Karen did it through everyday grace with a warm smile, a sincere question or a small act of generosity that lifted someone’s day. She moved through life with intention and heart, and in doing so, left a gentle but lasting imprint on our city.

Her commitment to this community extended far beyond Coco’s. When her children attended Dayton Public Schools, she became deeply involved as a volunteer, which led her to run for the Dayton Board of Education in 2017. She served two impactful terms, helping lead the transformation of Welcome Stadium and advocating fiercely for students. She was especially devoted to Stivers School for the Arts. Over more than a decade, the special Sunday brunches she hosted at Coco’s raised more than $90,000 for the Seedling Foundation, which supports Stivers School for the Arts and gives young artists a platform to shine. I attended many of these brunches over the years, and they were always the same at their core: a celebration of young people, their creativity, their courage, their talent and the kind of opportunity that only grows when a community chooses to invest in it.

“I love people and kids and have this beautiful place to share, celebrate and create an experience,” she once told me. And year after year, she lived that truth.

Her dedication to service grew even deeper when she ran for Dayton City Commission. She talked about strengthening neighborhoods, supporting small businesses, addressing housing affordability and building a city that reflects the dignity of everyone who calls it home. Her campaign, like her life, was grounded in optimism.

Within the restaurant industry, Karen was a pillar. A member of the Miami Valley Restaurant Association since 2005 and a six-year board member, she championed local operators and led by example. MVRA Executive Director Amy Zahora captured it perfectly: “She was a true Dayton legend who loved the community deeply and was such a classy lady. Every time she saw you she was so welcoming. She cared so passionately about the community—all of the community. She was philanthropic and always gave back with such a big heart. Like so many, I am going to miss her deeply.”

Karen once shared with me, “I am humbled to live the life that I do, and feel it’s my responsibility to share my talents and energy.” And she did, over and over again. She shaped restaurants, schools, nonprofits, creative spaces, neighborhoods and most of all, people.

Her elegance with her beautiful silver hair, her bright red lipstick and her quiet confidence was unforgettable. Karen moved through a room like a painting in motion, but her true beauty was the way she made others feel when she spoke to them.

For those who loved her, and there are so many, walking into Coco’s will feel different now. There will be a pause with a glace seeking out the familiar flash of her smile, the presence that anchored the room. That absence will be felt deeply. But then, something else: the recognition that her influence is everywhere.

She gave this city so much of herself with her vision, her creativity and her compassion. She showed what leadership looks like in an industry that too often overlooks women. She proved what is possible when success is built on heart.

There will always be a space at Coco’s where so many of us instinctively expect to see her. But the truest measure of a life is the mark it leaves behind, and Karen’s mark is everywhere. It lives in the students she championed, the employees she lifted, the diners she welcomed, the business owners she inspired, the neighbors she loved and the very, very special restaurant that she created for us to make memories in.

Her story continues in every life she touched, every table she tended to, every business and person she worked with and every moment of kindness she offered freely and without expectation.

Dayton, all of Dayton, is better because she lived here. And there’s no question that the MVRA is better because she was a part of it. Thank you for everything, Karen. The tables you set, the community you built and the kindness you showed will live on and we are better for it.

Alexis Larsen is the Miami Valley Restaurant Association’s Dine Out Dayton Correspondent and is The Dayton Dish food columnist for the Dayton Business Journal. Stay tuned for more articles from Larsen who has been covering local restaurants and food and dining for more than two decades. When she’s not out dining and writing on nights and weekends Larsen serves as the Chief of Philanthropy for Five Rivers MetroParks.