School nurse’s kindness remembered
Lawrence school nurse Karen “Katie” Buck was about much more than bandaging skinned knees or healing playground bumps and bruises.
“She really believed it was about keeping an extra pair of eyes on kids who needed a little extra help,” said Buck’s oldest daughter, Regan Buck Bardeen.
Katie Buck
Buck, 56, died Wednesday evening after battling cancer for nearly 11 years. She had served as a nurse for the Lawrence school district since 1994, and served as the district’s nursing services facilitator until her death. She’s survived by her husband, Charlie, son Chad, daughter Ashlyn, all of Lawrence, and Bardeen, who lives in Los Angeles.
“She was just so caring,” said Rusty Shelton, an early childhood special education facilitator who worked with Buck. “During her illness, when she would wake up from a treatment she would ask about the children.”
Buck served as a board member for the Douglas County Safe Kids Coalition, and was a vocal opponent of school board decisions to cut back on the district’s nursing staff to save money.
In addition to supervising all the district’s nursing staff, she continued to care for young students – usually 3- to 5-year-olds – who were part of the district’s early childhood special education program at the East Heights Center.
“We work with children here who are medically fragile, and Katy always was the utmost professional,” said Sandy Davalos, an early childhood special education teacher. “She was just a very open, very sincere, very loving person.”
Katie buck undergoes her last treatment of chemotherapy for colon cancer from the past eight months. Family members were expected to join her later in the day. Buck will speak at next weekend's Heart's of Gold gala fundraiser.
Bardeen said there was at least one other quality her mother possessed: the gift of gab.
“We went to the Farmers Market every Saturday and it would take us forever because she would stop and talk with everyone,” Bardeen said. “Us kids got annoyed with her because she always was chit-chatting. But it’s neat because it seems like everyone she ever met, she made a connection with.”
Services will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence.
