Karen Lawton Burtch

Karen Lawton Burtch, 72, died Saturday morning, August 10, 2024 at Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville.

Born June 19, 1952, she was the only child of William E Lawton and Annette M Lawton of Syracuse, New York, a 1970 graduate of Nottingham High School in Syracuse, and St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York in 1974. She married Dorman “Butch” Burtch, Alexandria Bay, NY, in 1974, a St. Lawrence classmate. Together they moved to Nashville that August for her husband’s graduate study at Vanderbilt University. Karen worked as a teacher from 1975 until her retirement in 2015, first, 10 years as an elementary school teacher in Nashville’s Catholic School system, St. Joseph’s School, Madison, and St. Pius X School, Nashville, then teaching 5th and 6th grade Language Arts at St. Paul Christian Academy, Nashville and finishing her career teaching 5th and 6th grade Language Arts and in Learning Services at The Oak Hill School, Nashville. She was a life-long Episcopalian and member from1978 at St. Matthias Episcopal Church, Nolensville Road, and 2003 St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Green Hills in 2003. For ten years she led a woman’s book club at St. Bartholomew’s. She is survived by her husband of 50 years and their son, Paul. She was a woman with an extraordinary spirit.

A funeral service will be held Saturday, August 31, 2:00 p.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 4800 Belmont Park Terrace, Nashville, TN 37215, reception following.

In lieu of flowers, Karen would have asked you to consider a gift to one of the following:

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, PO Box 393, Hohenwald, TN 38462

Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue, PO Box 279, Burns, TN 37029

Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary, 785 Nonaville Rd, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122

Nashville Humane Association, 213 Oceola Av, Nashville, TN 37209