BARTLESVILLE EXAMINER-ENTERPRISE

BARTLESVILLE, WASHINGTON CO, OK

(permission granted)

Graveside services for Karen Lynn Pollard are 2:00 P.M., Friday, April 7, 2017 at Memorial Park Cemetery in Nowata with Pastor Dean Bridges officiating. Visitation at Benjamin Funeral Home will be from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M., Friday, April 7, 2017 before the graveside service.

Karen Lynn Pollard, 57, of Nowata, passed away Sunday, April 2, 2017 at St. John's Medical Center in Tulsa.

She was born September 8, 1959 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma to Charles Gene and Normia Marie (Milford) Ashley. Karen graduated high school at Sooner High School in Bartlesville and went on to work at Phillips 66 in the mail room and worked her way up to Senior Associate. Whilst there, Karen was in the Jane Phillips Society and held the position of President for a term. Whilst living in Houston she gained her BBA Management at Our Lady of the Lake University. She met her husband, Neil, online where they became great friends. She married him in Eureka Springs, Arkansas on June 9, 1997. They moved to the United Kingdom the same year and lived in Princetown in the Dartmoor National Park. She worked at the Dartmoor Prison as an Enhanced Thinking Skills Tutor and went onto her earn her Masters of Education at the Open University. They moved to Somerset where she worked at Ashfield Prison as a Special Education Needs Coordinator where she was responsible for the educational needs of children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. She was awarded the Serco Chairman's Recognition Award for an individual (2004), for her work with young people and The Pilgrim Award (Butler Trust) in 2003 that was presented to her by Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace. She then went on to work at The Link Special School as Head of Personalized Learning and later as Business Manager.
Karen and Neil moved back to Oklahoma to Nowata in 2013, where she started working as an Insurance Claims Manager. She considered Nowata a very friendly town and loved living here. She was very pro law enforcement. She was patriotic and loved the United States of America and had a special place in her heart for her dogs. She had a very kind and giving soul and will be missed by all who knew her.

Karen is survived by her husband Neil of the home; two children, Amelia Hargrove of Skiatook, Oklahoma and Steven Pollard of the United Kingdom; three grandchildren, Oakley, Zachary, and Melody Rose. Along with an abundance of uncles, aunts, and cousins.

She is preceded in death by her brother, Charles Ashley and her parents Charles and Normia Ashley.

Online condolences may be left at www.honoringmemories.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to Benjamin Funeral Service.