Karen Kay Butner

Karen Kay Kelton Butner, 81, of Alexander, Arkansas, passed away on December 3, 2025. Karen was born March 16, 1944, in Paris, Arkansas, to Deward and Mildred Kelton.

Karen grew up between town and the country, spending time at her grandparents’ place—where there was no electricity or plumbing—learning to gather eggs, pick produce, crochet, and ride horses. She was proud to be the first in her family to graduate from college, earning a degree in Elementary Education from Harding College.

In the summer of 1964, a traveling Bible salesman named Hank Butner showed up at a church in Paris. He and Karen discovered they shared the same March 16 birthday, a coincidence she never stopped telling people. That first date to Mount Magazine led to a 44-year marriage that carried them through Vietnam deployments, a recovery stay-turned-new-life in Hawaii, and eventually back to Arkansas.

After Karen had taught school for a few years, had three children, and run a home daycare in Little Rock, the family moved to Alexander in 1981. On that three-acre property, they built a parakeet farm that became the center of family life for more than 20 years. In the early years Hank designed and built the infrastructure, but as his military duties and Parkinson’s disease advanced, Karen increasingly took over the day-to-day operation. She was fiercely proud of having run a business and kept it going through grit, ingenuity, and a very early alarm clock.

Karen’s faith was central to her life. She had a longtime association with both the Lawson Road Church of Christ and the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ, teaching, caregiving, and feeding people in both congregations. For many years, Sunday lunch at her house meant a table surrounded by friends and family, fully laden with classic down home fare such as chicken and dumplings, chicken pot pie, brisket, mashed potatoes, fried okra, sugar cookies, and her much-requested candied pecans.

In later life, she delighted in her rural home: feeding wild birds and squirrels, arranging decorative items in the yard, supervising projects, repainting and repurposing nearly anything, and painting small “garden rocks” to give as gifts. A large stone bench in her side yard, brought from her grandparents’ old homeplace in Paris, was a favorite perch and a lasting symbol of her roots. One of the high points of her later years was traveling to Kenya with her daughters—her only trip overseas—where she enjoyed safaris, bustling Nairobi streets, and the kindness of new friends.

Among her children’s fondest memories of their time with their mother are the occasions when Karen would sing “Que Sera, Sera” in her most comforting voice. It was an unexpected touch of warmth and reassurance that lingered long after the song ended.

Karen is survived by her sister Deborah “Debbie” Kelton Doremus (Terrel); her children Shari Nelane “Lanie” Butner Hess of Little Rock, Roger Duane Butner (Chemaine) of Baton Rouge, and Maria Katherine Butner Bean of Little Rock; and two grandchildren, Charlie Hess, 17, and Shepard Butner, 22. She was preceded in death by her husband, Henry Clay “Hank” Butner.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, December 9, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at Smith Little Rock Funeral Home (8801 Knoedl Court). Funeral service will be at the funeral home on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., with graveside services following at 1:00 p.m. at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Children’s Protection Center or Arkansas Heart Hospital, in gratitude for the care she received.