Karen Anntoinette Richard, 59, of Texarkana, TX, passed away on February 4, 2025, surrounded by family, after a hard fought, six-year battle with lung cancer. She was born on October 22, 1965, to Eddie and Mary Ann (Harris) Holliness in San Bernardino, CA.
Karen graduated from Centaurus High School in 1982 and went on to receive a Business Certificate from Front Range Community College, a Bachelor of Psychology from Texas A&M, a Master of Education from Texas A&M, and holds her Texas Teachers Certification.
Karen met Carl in February of 1991, while chaperoning a youth function at McChord AFB, WA. They got married on May 27, 1995, at Chapel on McChord AFB. Karen and Carl went on to have four children: Yvette, Delaney, Garrett and Donovan while also hosting several others.
Karen had many professions throughout her life. Karen served as an administrative assistant for the Boeing 777 development project; a workers’ comp representative for the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries; a scheduler at Northwest Wine Company; a project manager for the Franciscan Hospital Foundation; a Civil Engineering maintenance scheduler and planner for the Department of Defense; a teacher in the Liberty-Eylau Independent School District; and finally, an adjunct instructor at Texarkana College.
Karen was an animal lover as evidenced by the number of dogs she had over the years. Karen was an avid reader of all genres and never missed an episode of Jeopardy! Karen also enjoyed a wide variety of hobbies from attending high school girls’ sports to RV camping and fishing to include bowling, softball, vacationing, riding her bike, and watching March Madness and filling out her brackets.
Karen was predeceased by father, Eddie Holliness and daughter, Yvette Richard.
Karen is survived by her husband of 30 years, Carl Richard of Texarkana; daughter, Delaney Richard of Denton, TX; two sons, Garrett Richard and Donovan Richard of Texarkana; mother, Mary Ann Holliness of Lafayette, CO; sister, Shari (Darryl) Searuggs of Parker, CO; brother, Randall (Tammy) Holliness of Longmont, CO; one granddaughter, Evelyn Rose Richard of Yorktown, TX; daughter-in-law, Ashley Richard of Yorktown, TX; mother-in-law, Ozie Carson of Texarkana, TX; sisters-in-law, Edith Richard of Texarkana, TX; Gertrude (Joe) Raibon of Houston, TX and Melba (Dean) Ervin of Manvel, TX; brothers-in-law, Thomas (Trudy) Richard of San Antonio, TX, John (Debbie) Richard and Nathan (Rosie) Richard of Texarkana, TX and Michael Gooden of Dallas, TX; nieces, Jasmine Searuggs of Houston, TX, Kayla Holliness of Longmont, CO, Holly Richard of Memphis, TN and Kerensa Hardy of Memphis, TN; nephews, Dominique Searuggs of Denver, CO, Jackson Holliness of Longmont, CO and Chase Richard of Texarkana, TX; a special friend, Jewell Scott of Washington, and host of other relatives; along with her “Good Children”, (dogs) Echo and Sandy.
Karen will be honored with a Viewing held at Chapelwood Funeral Home, Nash, TX on February 10, 2025, from 6:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. and Funeral Services held at Heritage Church, Texarkana, TX on February 11, 2025, at 11:00a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Fund, an organization Karen felt strongly about.