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.