Karen Burlingham Bland passed away after battling cancer for 27 years on Saturday, July 13, 2024 in Napa surrounded by family and friends. She was a gracious daughter, a loving wife, a super mom, and a selfless grandma. She devoted her life to her children, Michael Bland (Alexis) and Dori Lentsch (Josh) and her four grandchildren whom she adored, Bode and Gavin Lentsch and Eloise and Kasten Bland. She will be missed greatly by her friends, surviving family, and the community in which she lived.
Karen was born on September 16, 1960 in Portland, Oregon and grew up in Forest Grove with two wonderful sisters. She met her husband, Mark, at the Hillsboro swimming pool during the summer of 1979. He hired her as his assistant swim coach, sight unseen, purely based on her collegiate swimming credentials. Throughout that summer, they worked together as life guards, swim instructors, and swim coaches where they became best friends and co-workers at the pool.