Karen Bigsby
Hurley Carlin Flora
Finstad
Lenexa, KS
Last updated:
03/10/2007
|
The whole gang
watched Karen and
Duane tie the knot
in the Rockies,
Summer '05
After LHS
Received a BA in Political Science from Washburn University
and completed 15 hours toward a masters in communications at
Wichita State University
Employment
Currently, I am the executive director of the Delta Dental of
Kansas Foundation.
Hearth & Home
I am married to Duane Finstad, who is an avionics engineer for
Honeywell in Olathe. I have two grown children and Duane has
four grown children. They live in Kansas, Missouri, Boston,
Oregon and Texas. We have four grandsons; they are bright
lights in our life. My son
Patrick Hurley is an attorney for Governor Sebelius in Topeka
with the Department of Administration. He and his wife Allison
and son Sam (20 months old) live in Overland Park. My daughter
Marci is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Wichita with
husband BJ and our three other grandsons: Nicholas, 8;
Christian, 5; and Jacob, 2½. BJ owns Sunkissed Tanning in
Lawrence and Wichita. Marci is a KU graduate. Patrick’s
undergraduate degree is from Rockhurst College and his law
degree is from Washburn University.
The Other Stuff
I enjoyed being First Lady of Kansas from 1981-1985 during the
time I was married to John Carlin, who served as
governor from 1978-1986. While there I was the executive
editor of a book, Kansas First Families at Home, the
sales of which helped raise money to restore the interior of
the governor's official residence, Cedar Crest. In addition to
meeting thousands of wonderful Kansans and visiting all 105
Kansas counties numerous times, I had the opportunity to
travel all over the world...to China, Japan, Taiwan, France,
England, Brussels, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and Hong Kong
(great shopping). I also attended a number of black tie
affairs at the White House during the presidencies of Jimmy
Carter and Ronald Reagan. Another great adventure was riding
with John on a float, "A Kansas Quilting Bee," in the 1983
Rose Bowl Parade. Currently
I am a Democrat precinct committeewoman in Johnson County and spend as much time
as possible helping to raise money for Paul Morrison, who is
running for attorney general in Kansas, and Bonnie Scharp, who
is running for insurance commissioner. I also serve on the
advisory board for the Wichita and Kansas City "Smiles Change
Lives" program. And...I'd still like to learn to play golf.
My Memories of LHS
Best LHS memories involve all my girlfriends who I still see
at least two or three times a year: Darlene, Marilyn, Becky,
Barbara, Judy, Debbie, Sue, Glenna, Sally, Terri, Cathy, Nancy
and Trish (see the latest
photo of us
at my house in February 2006, where we had our own
mini-reunion). I fondly remember all the slumber parties, at
Darlene’s house or my house. One time I remember my dad
getting up early in the morning and walking past the room where we
were all supposed to be sleeping. As he walked by, I held my breath hoping
he wouldn't notice Terry Hopkins in dad's easy chair with
Barbara Lauter sitting on his lap. Luckily, he was in a hurry
and did not notice them! We had lots of fun; high school at
LHS was a great joy. I remember, sadly, exactly what I was doing
(as I am sure all of you do) when it was announced that
President Kennedy was shot: I was in home economics class
taking a pineapple upside-down cake out of the oven. What a
tragic day that was for our country and his family. |
