St. Louis Post Dispatch Obituary

Karin M. Walsh Faulkner, 1973-2008

Karin Walsh was born in Jamestown, NY, on September 28, 1973. She was raised in St. Louis County, graduating from Mary Institute in 1991 where she was active in choir, Madrigals, dance club, and drama. She played with the CASA Youth Orchestra from 1986 to 1991. Her BA is from Furman University with majors in Music and French, and she holds a Master in International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina. She worked for Bosch in Paris, Dynamic Data Solutions, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, then started her own Web design company before becoming a stay-at-home-mom.
She became an advocate for adoption and made adoption her first choice for becoming a parent. She and her husband adopted a 15-month-old from Russia in 2005 and two 1-year-old babies from Vietnam in 2008. Karin lived with her family in Cary, NC where she was active in BNI (Business Network International) serving as President, her church, children’s schools, MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), plus she was a harpist and an inveterate scrapbooker and blogger. The blog of her final months is at http://www.karinupdates.blogspot.com/. She traveled widely, covering three continents. Her organizational abilities were exceptional. Karin is remembered as someone who lit up any room she entered. Her cousin described her as follows: “[She] took on the persona of a princess. She attended private schools. She learned to play the harp. She became fluent in French. She loved the color pink. She delighted in Disney. She wore high-end clothes. She required three plug-in appliances to coif her bouncy hair. And her disposition rivaled the purity and sweetness of Snow White.” The fairytale ended when she succumbed to complications of cancer on December 15, 2008.
She is survived by her husband, Steve Faulkner, and her children Kevin, Kien, and Aria all of Cary, NC; her parents, Grant and Nina Walsh of Burlington, ON; her brother Greg Walsh and his family of Ft. Worth, TX; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. Memorials can be made to the Karin Faulkner Family Fund c/o Summit Evangelical Covenant Church, 590 Westhigh Street, Cary NC 27513 or to The Karin Walsh Faulkner Memorial Fund at Webster Hills United Methodist Church, 698 West Lockwood at Berry Rd., Webster Groves, MO 63119.
The funeral was at Summit in Cary on Dec. 19 and, simultaneously, a memorial service was held at Webster Hills UMC in Webster Groves. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

http://www.legacy.com/stltoday/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=122205708
Published 1/4/09

Awesome painting

You may recognize Laura, one who often leaves comments on Karin's blog. She sent the family this painting in the style of Romero Britto. His paintings are "so bright and fun... just like Karin."

I asked Laura how she knows Karin. Her response: "My husband and I used America World Adoption to adopt our son Dmitry from Russia. We started our process in 2005 while Karin and Steve were waiting to bring Kevin home. When I joined the adoption message board, Karin was the one constant presence, and everyone loved her. If there was a "prom queen" of the message board she would have won by a landslide. :o) I loved how detailed her packing lists were, and used them when I did my own packing for travel. She not only shared her packing lists, but shared adoption education articles, and created databases to track the process of the families on the board. She was amazing. I had such admiration for her. We met our son, Dmitry, in Chelyabinsk, in December 2005 and we were not given a court date until two years later, December 2007. Karin commented on my blog quite a few times to encourage me during our painful wait. I followed her blogs bringing Kien and Aria home, and I cried when I got news about her kidney cancer and I read every word as she blogged on "Karin's Updates". It's strange for me to think I never met Karin in person, because it *so* feels like I have."

In the card she sent with the painting, she wrote, "I added some Karin-flare to the painting to make it hers." She succeeded in making this piece very much a Karin one! BTW, Karin was an artist in her own right too. Probably no one knew that, as she has not spent time on her artwork in several years.

A Star for Karin

Grant,

I have struggled to find an appropriate way to express my sincere condolences on the loss of your daughter Karin.

Although I never had the opportunity to meet her, I felt like I knew her. Since that terrible day at QHC when you first learned of her illness, through our intermittent e-mails and conversations and by reading her blog which so wonderfully articulated her spiritual and courageous battle with cancer and her fight for life with her children. Karin's story is remarkable and I have been challenged to find an appropriate way to recognize her life.

I hope you will accept this rather unusual memorial in honour of her life and in recognition of the impact she has had in her short life.

A Memorial Star has been named for Karin... An official document with the real certificate will be provided to me and I will send along to you.

Karin's unique star will be permanently recorded in the Name A Star Record Book which is listed with the Library of Congress.

Why a star? Much of Karin's story reminds me of a beautiful bright shining star in the night sky....

The brightness of the stars is associated with the light of Christ, which shines even in the darkness. It is the light, which guides and shows us the right path to travel in life. The brightness of the star is the symbol of enlightenment and victory of good over evil.

You and your family will be remembered in my prayers.

Suzanne