IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Shirley Lorraine

Shirley Lorraine Karns Profile Photo

Karns

Aug 5, 1920 — Jan 30, 2012

Obituary

Shirley Lorraine Karns of Spanish Cove Retirement Center in Yukon, OK, died Sunday, January 30, 2012. Mrs. Karns was born August 5, 1920, in Jefferson County, KS, to Chester Leonard and Amy Maxwell Trower. She graduated in 1937 from Valley Falls High School, and worked in Topeka for a year before enrolling at Ottawa University where she graduated with a history degree in 1942. She was employed as a secretary in the General Manager's Office of the Santa Fe Railway in Topeka, KS, from 1942-1946. In March of 1946, she married Glenn E. Karns at the First Baptist Church in Topeka. They moved to Dodge City and then to Pratt, KS, in 1947, where they established a Western Auto Store. Mrs. Karns was a homemaker throughout her lifetime. She loved being involved in her children's school activities, and involved herself in church where she taught Sunday School classes for all ages, planned many Vacation Bible Schools, sang in the choir, and was president of the Missionary Society. Shirley was a member of the Pratt Church of the Nazarene for over 50 years. She became a member of the First Church of the Nazarene in Yukon, OK, in her later years. For twenty years, she was the state recording secretary for the Kansas Women's Christian Temperance Union. Mrs. Karns is survived by daughter, Carolyn Pate, and son-in-law, Dr. Garry Pate, of Mitchell, IN; granddaughters and husbands, Jennifer and Ken Bushey, of Bedford, IN, and Julie and Brad Robbins, of Indianapolis, IN; and great grandchildren Corbin, Jadon, and Evan Bushey, and Ryan, Reid, Keylee, and Keira Robbins. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Glenn, son Dennis Eugene, brothers Rev. Victor Trower and Nolan Trower. Visitation will be held at Ayres-Calbeck Mortuary in Pratt, KS, on Friday evening, February 3, from 6-8pm. The funeral will be held at the Abundant Harvest Community Church of the Nazarene, 1120 Glenarm, Pratt, KS, at 2pm on Saturday, February 4. A memorial service will be conducted at the Spanish Cove Retirement Center Pavilion, Yukon, OK, on Sunday, February 5, at 3pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Abundant Harvest Community Church of the Nazarene or the Pratt Regional Medical Center Gifts and Bequests Committee.
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