Karen L. Walker-Karn

Karen L. Walker-Karns, 69, of Platte City, Mo., passed away Sunday, July 15, 2012, at St. Luke's Northland Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. A visitation will be held 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, 2012, at Rollins Funeral Home in Platte City. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 19, at the funeral home. Interment will follow in the Platte City Cemetery. The family suggests contributions be given to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure; or the St. Joseph School District Scholarship Fund, 925 Felix St., St. Joseph, MO 64501. Karen was born Sept. 17, 1942, in Springdale, Ark., to Marvin Cleo and Jimmie Alline (Legg) Dean. She lived in the Springdale, Blytheville and Harrison, Ark., areas, then moved to Lynchburg, Va., Papillion, Neb., St. Joseph, Mo., and finally Platte City. Karen attended church services at Unity on the Plaza in Kansas City, Mo. She married Rodney M. Karns on June 22, 1990, in Lake Tahoe. Karen was a graduate of the University of Arkansas and Northwest Missouri State University. She served her post graduate work as school psychological examiner for University of Missouri, K.C., and as special education administration for University of Kansas. Karen earned teaching certificates in Arkansas and Missouri with certifications for elementary education, learning disabilities and special education administration. She was a member of several professional organizations, including: Arkansas and Missouri State Teacher's Association, Phi Delta Kappa, Delta Kappa Gamma, Council of Exceptional Children, Association of Schools for Curriculum Development, CASE, MCASE and NAEYC. Karen served as a past-president of Local Administrators of Special Education and the Bush Child Development Center at Yale University. She also served on the University of Kansas Special Education Advisory Board, as well as the advisory board for the YWCA Resource and Referral for child care, where she was nominated for the Women's Excellence Award. She was preceded in death by her parents; and her first husband, William "Bill" Walker. Karen is survived by her husband, Rodney, of the home; her son, Brad Walker of Houston, Texas; her daughter, Brooke Walker Peters and her husband, Rodney, of St. Joseph, Mo.; her stepdaughters, Jennifer Karns of Platte City, and Megan Sams and her husband, Brad, of Rayville, Mo.; her sister, Joanne Flynn and her husband, J. Michael, of Irving, Texas; six grandchildren, Andrew, Trevor, Tyler, Madalyn, Collin and Ethan; and one great-granddaughter, Cambria; and her uncles, Dr. Joe Legg of Rogers, Ark., and Homer Walker of Bentonville, Ark. Arrangements by Rollins Funeral Home, Platte City, Mo., 816-858-2129.