Karen Burton Pearce

A proud California native of beautiful downtown Burbank, she begrudgingly ended up in Bethesda where she raised her daughter Amy Pearce Fonville and son Tripp Pearce.

Karen was the first person in her family to attend college and excelled at UCLA where she tutored Lew Alcindor.

Known for her lack of filter, love of curse words and intolerance for incompetence, the words that came out of her mouth could surprise people and cause belly laughs. She was a charismatic hostess who threw memorable parties and knew how to have fun. At the same time she was a fiercely loyal and protective friend.

After being an avid Redskins fan for 30 years, her vehement hatred for the previous owner led her to join her son in becoming a rabid Liverpool fan. She would watch matches at all times of day and frequented the Queen Vic to support Liverpool.

Most of her 50-year career in the federal government was spent at HUD where she was known for her high standards. At HUD she was a CPD (Community Planning and Development) Specialist. She analyzed data and worked with HUD grantees throughout the United States. After hurricane Katrina, she spent months in New Orleans working on the recovery efforts. Her former colleague captured her perfectly with this: Karen was one of those people that once met is never forgotten. She was smart, hard working, kind (she probably wouldn't admit it), funny, brash, beautiful...I could go on. But most of all, she was honest - what you saw is what you got.

A lover of animals, she cat-sat for her kids’ cats and carried Greenies in her purse for any dogs she ran into. She was often visited by her neighbors’ dog Charlie and at the end of her life she hosted a variety of dog visitors to brighten her days.

Her children were her proudest accomplishments. She is survived by Amy and Tripp (Ashley) and her grandgirls Caroline Fonville, Layla Fonville, Taylor Pearce and Tenley Pearce.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to A Cats Life Rescue and LOVEPAWS.