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Karen Busch

July 31, 1943-Feb. 29, 2017

Karen Louise (Dahle)

Busch passed away peace-

fully at her home in On-

tario, Oregon on February

19, 2017. By her side

were her daughter Kari

and husband of 53 years,

Leo Busch.

Karen was born to Irvin

and Mildred Dahle on

July 31, 1943 outside of

Velva, North Dakota. Tru-

ly a “coal miner’s

daughter,” Karen spent

her early years with her

parents and two siblings

growing up around the

Truax-Traer coal mining

community near Velva.

When the family later

moved into town, she gra-

duated from Velva High

School.

Karen landed a job out

of high school at the local

bank before landing hus-

band Leo from the nearby

farming community of

Sawyer. Married on June

2, 1963, Leo swept Karen

off her feet and straight to

the family farm near

Sawyer. The farm life

wasn’t for them, though,

and so began Karen’s life

of travel.

Karen and Leo moved

with son Mark to Fargo,

North Dakota where Leo

attended NDSU. Leo later

began his work in water

resources management,

with Karen and the family

(now with son Steve)

moving to Oaks and Car-

rington, North Dakota and

Riverton, Wyoming. The

family eventually settled

in Rupert, Idaho and wel-

comed daughter Kari Ann.

Karen enjoyed raising her

family in Rupert, and

worked at the local

Chamber of Commerce for

several years.

Little did Karen know

while growing up in Velva

that she would end up

traveling the world. Leo’s

work took them to live in

Pakistan in the 1980’s,

where Karen traveled to

India, the Maldives, Thai-

land and England. Karen

worked at the American

Consulate in Lahore, Pak-

istan, where she made

close friends who she

later traveled with back in

the States.

After a short time in

Denver, the next port of

call was Egypt in the

1990’s, where Karen, Leo

and Kari Ann lived for

several years in Cairo.

Karen enjoyed all that

Egypt had to offer, from

trips to the Valley of the

Kings, riding camels on

Christmas Day at the py-

ramids, or searching out

exotic trinkets at the

shopping bazaar in Cairo.

While in Egypt, Karen

also stamped her passport

to Greece, Turkey and the

historical sites of Syria.

Travel forever changed

Karen, giving her the

moxie to deal with nearly

anything after bustling

her way through crowded

airports worldwide. It

was an easier life once she

and Leo moved to Bend,

Oregon and enjoyed help-

ing Kari raise grand-

daughter Karissa. The

tradition continued when

all moved to Ontario, Ore-

gon and Karen took joy in

having two grandsons

around as well.

Karen is survived by:

husband, Leo; son Mark

and his children Matthew

and Ansley; son Steve,

wife Denise, and their

children Tyler and Court-

ney; and daughter Kari

Ann Reynolds, husband

David and their children

Karissa, Jason and Aaron.

She is also survived by

sister Lois Ann Weidler

and her husband Harold;

brother Jim Dahle and his

wife Susan; and by many

nieces, nephews, cousins

and friends.

Services: A memorial

service to celebrate

Karen’s life will be held at

11:00 a.m. on Saturday,

February 25, 2017 at Pil-

grim Lutheran Church in

Ontario. A future service

will be held in Velva for

Karen’s family and friends

there. She is gone but

never forgotten as a loving

wife, caring mother, gen-

tle grandmother, loved

sister, and special woman

who took on the world. A

life well-lived and now

her travels have taken her

to the Lord’s House.