Karen McCune-Barca

Karen McCune-Barca passed away unexpectedly from heart disease on November 28, 2024. Karen was a devoted educator and community member. As a Group Educator for Self Esteem Boston, she supported over 150 women each week in their recovery journeys. She also taught for 17 years at North Shore Community College and served on the Everett Cultural Council. The Everett City Council honored her with a moment of silence in December.

In June 2024, Karen was ordained as an Interfaith Minister after studies at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. She hoped to become a prison chaplain and was preparing to officiate a friend's wedding. She found spiritual community at Mystic Side church in Everett, MA.

As a young adult, Karen backpacked through Europe, traveled across the U.S. and Mexico, before earning degrees in Anthropology and Spanish from the University of Colorado Boulder. Later, she earned her teaching certification in Connecticut and an MSW from Boston University.

Karen loved spending time with her family and friends, creating collages and other art, and enjoyed music, dancing, travel, and peaceful mornings on her porch watching sparrows at sunrise.

Karen was predeceased by her parents, Robert and Esther McCune. She is survived by her sisters Lynn and Janice McCune; sons Jeff and Dylan Barca; grandsons Emilio and Dylan Barca and their mothers respectively, Tatiana Mazzoni and Angelica Santana and stepson Matias Barca and his daughter Tizara Clement, Tizara's sister Lilyana Clement Jones, and their mother Tedda Clement.

A celebration of Karen's life will take place June 10, 2025 at South Congregational Church on Main Street in South Glastonbury, Connecticut, at 1:00 p.m. An earlier service was held at Mystic Side Congregational Church in Everett. In accordance with her wishes, Karen was cremated, and her ashes are in the care of her sons. A memorial stone resides at the Old Church Cemetery in Glastonbury, CT.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Self Esteem Boston Educational Institute (PO Box 301155 Jamaica Plain, MA 02130) or online at https://selfesteemboston.com/donate-online/

May Karen's legacy of compassion, faith, creativity, and service continue to inspire all who were fortunate enough to know her.