Karen Frances Hutton

Karen Hutton died May 23, 2021 in her home in Arlington, Virginia. She was diagnosed with lung, later brain cancer, in 2018 and struggled valiantly against it to the end of her life. Her immediate family all spoke to her shortly before her death and shared treasured moments together. She was born June 4, 1964 in El Paso, Texas, the fifth of five children to Ed and Bertha Wolford. Shortly thereafter the family to moved to Oklahoma City where Ed and Bertha decided to retire from the U.S. Army. Karen participated in summer camps in southeastern Oklahoma as both a camper and counselor. She enjoyed horseback riding and developed a lifelong love of horses. As a high school student, she joined the swim team and was an avid swimmer even as she suffered from the effects of cancer. She attended several colleges and universities including, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City Community College, and Oklahoma State University and she later graduated with an education degree from Drury University in Missouri. She met James, her husband of 34 years, while attending Oklahoma State University and they were married in 1987. Throughout James’ Army career, they moved to Missouri (twice), Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Germany, California, Kansas, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia (where they lived for 13 years). She fearlessly led the family during James’ deployments to Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo and three long deployments to Iraq. Karen became a teacher in Virginia and thoroughly enjoyed teaching pre-K and Kindergarteners as well as working with special needs children as a teaching assistant before becoming a teacher. Her service to and love for her family and community will never be forgotten by anyone who knew her. She had many friends from a full life, including many wonderful fellow teachers in Arlington and Alexandria. Karen is survived by her husband James, of Arlington, their children son James Jr., of Arlington, daughter Kara and her husband Cameron, of Alexandria, her son Grant, of Alexandria, and Julia, of Arlington. She is also survived by two grandsons, Mason and Sawyer. Additionally Karen is survived by her sisters Margaret and her husband Terry Peterson, of Portland, Oregon, and Helen Wolford, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, brothers Jack and Frances Wolford, of Houston, Texas, and Paul and Kieu Diem Wolford, of Gig Harbor, Washington. She is also survived by her mother-in-law Linda Hutton and sister-in-law Angela Loucks, of Sierra Vista, Arizona. For those interested in donating to a charity in Karen’s name please see the Exon 20 Group link below. Exon 20 was the name of the particular cancer Karen had. The Group helped her since 2018 when she was diagnosed. https://exon20group.org