Karen Burns Dailey

Karen Burns Dailey Karen Burns Dailey, age 59, passed away Thursday June 14, 2012 at her home in Durham, NC, five and half years after being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Karen was born in Kosciusko, MS on February 1, 1953 to David Ennis Burns, Sr. and Ruby Lord Burns. She moved with her mother, brother and sister to Austin, TX in 1967, leaving behind numerous friends, cousins, and other relatives, with whom she remained close for the rest of her life. She graduated from McCallum High School in 1971. In 1980 Karen joined the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin, from which she retired as Senior Administrative Assistant in 2006. Longer standing members of CSR will remember her outgoing personality and the competent manner in which she provided the underpinning for the center for several decades. Post retirement, she lived in the Austin area with her husband Mark Dailey until December 2010, when they moved to North Carolina. Karen is survived by her husband Mark Dailey of Durham, NC, mother Ruby Lord Burns, daughter Laura Johnson Travis and her husband Shiloh, daughter Emily Johnson Beasley and her husband Jayce, grandchildren Jasper and Veda Travis and Fox Beasley, and aunt Elizabeth Lord, all of Austin, TX, aunt India Burns Sanders and husband, Tommy of Attala County, MS. She is also survived by her brother David Burns and wife Kathy of Lytton Springs, TX, sister Donna Haley and husband Mike of McDade,TX. nephew, Benjamin Haley and niece, Rebecca Haley Shelley, 2 great-nieces and 1 great-nephew. Karen is predeceased by her father Ennis Burns, her sister Barbara Burns, and numerous aunts and uncles. The family invites you to honor Karen's life at a memorial service and potluck lunch on Sunday June 24, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at the Amala Foundation in Austin, TX. Dress for the weather and bring your memories, stories, and songs to share as we celebrate the life of this amazing woman, wife, mother, daughter and friend. If you feel moved to make a contribution in her honor, please consider donations to the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Karen's favorite charity, or any charity of your choice. "Life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." -Rossiter Worthington Raymond, 1840-1918