Dr. Kar Burns, R.I.P.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

TIGHAR has just received news of Dr. Burn's death last night.

She will be missed.

Condolences to her family and friends.

[Jeff Lange]

Oh my!
What a shock this is to hear, and I only knew her through her association with TIGHAR. It must be even more of a shock to those of you who knew her. My condolences to her family, friends and colleages.

[Tim Collins]

Oh my, what a shock!

My sincerest condolences to her family and to all her friends and colleagues here at TIGHAR.

Tim Collins

[Irvine John Donald]

So sad.  My condolences to her immediate family and friends and to her TIGHAR family. Those of you who met and worked with her must feel a great loss.

I had hoped she would have been a speaker at the proposed symposium where we could have met her.

[Bruce Burton]

I did not know her; nevertheless, I am saddened by her passing, for as John Donne said: "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind."  :(  :(

[Alfred Hendrickson]

That is sad. Does anyone know what was the cause of her death?

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

That is sad. Does anyone know what was the cause of her death?

I don't.  I got word through an EPAC e-mail.

It was sudden and unexpected--she was not in hospice care or anything.

If we get any information on memorial services, I'll post it here.

[Irvine John Donald]

That is sad. Does anyone know what was the cause of her death?

I don't.  I got word through an EPAC e-mail.

It was sudden and unexpected--she was not in hospice care or anything.

If we get any information on memorial services, I'll post it here.

Thank you Marty for that update. Even sadder.

[Gus Rubio]

Condolences to her family and to the TIGHARs who knew her.

I did not know she was living in Colombia, sounds like good work she was doing there.  As a Colombian myself, I'd like to tell her, "Gracias, y descanse en paz."

[Don Dollinger]

How tragic.  My deepest condolence to her loved ones.

LTM,

Don

[Dan Swift]

A loss for her family.  A loss for the UGA family.  A loss for the Tighar family. 
So sad she won't be here when the case is solved! 

[Irvine John Donald]

As I looked for information on Dr. Burns achievements last night I came upon Dr. Tom King's blog post on her passing. It gives a snapshot of her work as he knew it.  Here it is:

"We're all mourning the unexpected passing of our good friend and colleague Karen Burns.  Her work as TIGHAR's chief physical anthropologist on the Earhart Project was among the least of her contributions to humanity; what was really inspiring about Kar, to me at least, was her human rights work.  She made a career of forensic anthropology – sometimes with financial support, sometimes without – on cases of genocide in places like Iraq, Guatamala, Haiti and Colombia, and on terrorism and disaster cases like the 9/11/01 attack on the World Trade Center.  Not only did she do the excavations and analyses (often very unpleasant and not infrequently dangerous) to identify victims and determine how they died; she also delivered the testimony needed in court to seek justice for them and their families, and retribution for those responsible.  Perhaps most important, she taught the people of the countries in which she worked to carry out their own forensic studies, building a cadre of indigenous experts whose very existence should give pause to those contemplating genocide.  Her work on pure research cases – not only the Earhart case but also the identification of Revolutionary War hero Kazimierz Pulaski's bones in Savannah, Georgia – was of the highest quality as well,  and as a colleague and shipmate on trips to Nikumaroro, she gained the respect and affection of us all – TIGHARs and ship's crew alike.  We will all miss her greatly."

Here is his blogspot address:  http://ameliaearhartarchaeology.blogspot.com/

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

 A memorial service for Dr. Karen Ramey Burns, adjunct professor of anthropology, will be held at 2:00pm this Saturday, January 14, at Wasatch Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City, 1626 S. 1700 E, Salt Lake City, UT.     The service is open to all who would like to attend.

Her obituary is scheduled to be run in Thursday's Salt Lake Tribune.
Kar's daughter lives in the area.
The family will announce in the near future charities, international human rights organizations and/or non-profits with whom Kar worked and to which donations may be made in her name.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

Kar Burn's memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at:

Wasatch Presbyterian Church
1626 S 1700 E
Salt Lake City, UT 84108

The family is asking that any cards be sent to:
2790 N Commons Blvd., #C108
Heber City, UT 84032

In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Human Rights Campaign (www.hrw.org) or the charity of your choice.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

Kar's obituary.