Karen Sue Bufkin

Karen Sue (Kringen) Bufkin of Beaufort, SC, passed away peacefully in her home on Saturday, June 12, 2010.

A Memorial Service will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Beaufort on June 16 at 10:30 am. Visitation will be Sunday, June 20, at Minnehaha Funeral Home, Dell Rapids, SD with the family present from 4-7:00 PM. Her funeral service will be 1:30 PM Monday June 21, 2010 at the Lutheran Church of Dell Rapids. Interment will be at the Norway Lutheran Cemetery, rural Garretson, SD.

Karen was born on July 4, 1943 in Dell Rapids, SD, the fourth child of Gilbert and Myrtle
(Bokker) Kringen. She was baptized and confirmed at the Norway Lutheran Church. She
attended Corother’s Country School, District #36 for 8 years and graduated from Dell Rapids
Public High School in 1961. As a young girl she was a very active member of the Logan Patrol
4-H Club and enjoyed participating in many horseshow competitions with her family. After graduation she moved to Minneapolis, MN, and worked for AT&T in the accounting department.
She and Emmitt “Buf” Bufkin were united in holy matrimony on September 19, 1964, at Central
Lutheran Church, Minneapolis. The couple moved to Houston, TX, in 1967 where she continued
to work for AT&T. While living in Houston, Karen was very active with Christ Lutheran Church
serving as the organist, as a Sunday School teacher and on Church Council.
In 1975 the couple moved to Beaufort, SC, where they owned and operated Buf’s, a Framing/Awards business. She helped with many activities at Eleanor Christensen Montessori School and Beaufort Elementary School. She volunteered countless hours with the Sea Island Science Fair. Karen served St. John’s Lutheran Church in Beaufort for many years as an organist, Sunday School teacher, and Sunday School Superintendent.

For the past 13 years she has been the organist for the two Protestant Marine Recruit services and the Depot Chapel Service on Parris Island, SC. She truly loved sharing her musical talent to provide hymns for those young Marines at the weekly services.

She enjoyed having the government close things down for her birthday every year and bringing out the Parris Island Marine Band to play for her along with a huge fireworks display.

Survivors include her husband of 45 years, her son Emmitt, III (Taylor) of Beaufort, SC; siblings, Eleanor (Martin) Morse, Madison, SD; Grant (Sharon) Kringen, Garretson, SD; Ben (Elaine) Kringen, Baltic, SD; Marie (LeRoy) Koopman, Colton, SD; Ada (Larry) Jorgenson, Trent,SD; Harry (Linda) Kringen, Houston, TX; Rose (Roger) Lance, Monument, CO; and Lynne (David) Antoine, Watertown, SD; 20 nieces and nephews and a brother-in-law, Clark Bufkin. She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant niece, her mother-in-law Mildred Bufkin and her father-in-law Emmitt Bufkin, Sr.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be given to the St. John’s Memorial Fund
for Sunday School Programs, 157 Lady’s Island Drive, Beaufort, SC 29907