Karen Leah Casper-Slamans

On Christmas Day a Dream Died. Forever Young, Forever In Our Hearts. Even as we mourn her, we honor her memory. Karen Leah Casper-Slamans, surrounded by her loving family left this world on Christmas Day, December 25, 2006 to join her beloved deceased maternal grandmother-godmother, Etta Dean Salkowski, together they will brighten Heaven and lead the way for those to follow after them. Karen, Born October 25, 1962, moved from Biloxi to Gulfport, MS, with her parents, Anthony Joseph Casper, Sr. and Kathleen Hurlbut-Casper when she was three years old. Karen will always have the special love that comes from knowing she always was and always will be her "Daddy's Little Girl," and she adored her daddy, and she always knew she was and always will be her 'Mama's Baby." But Karen was so much more than that. She was as much our strength as we tried to be hers. We were so in awe of this beautiful girl and precious soul that we were blessed to bring into this world. She was absolutely an inspiration to her family and many others. We will never be the same without her. Other members of our close family include Karen's sister, Cynthia Ann Casper-Ladner, and her three brothers, Anthony Joseph Casper, Jr., who married Gail Ann Shaw (Gail became her "other" sister), Steven Paul Casper, who married Karin Maria Piatek, and Benjamin Joseph Casper, who married Theresa. Karen was, and always will be, their baby sister. Admired and loved by all. Karen attended Anniston Avenue Elementary School, Bayou View Jr. High School, and Gulfport East High School. She later went on to become a certified paralegal and graduated from Phillips Business College with high honors and special recognition from her professors. For many reasons Karen will always be loved, admired and remembered eternally by family and friends. Her children, Joseph Alan Slamans and Elizabeth Renee Slamans, will keep her memory with them and feel the love and care she gave to them for eternity. Karen loved both her children more than life itself, and proved it over and over again, and they loved her equally as much. The three of them comprised an awesome through "thick and thin" family unit. A family unit that could only grow yet remains the same. Their family of three became five with the births of her adored grandson, Dylan Alan Slamans, and granddaughter, Ashlynn Faye Slamans. Then it became eight with Karen's much loved "other" daughter, Mrs. Joseph (Felicia Lynn) Slamans, and two grandsons, Dalton Edward Rice and Matthew Allen Dearman. That unit will forever be unbreakable. Felicia, Dalton, and Matthew have all captured a part of Karen's heart and enriched her life just as she has theirs. This has been an absolute inspirational example of the true meaning of "family" of loving one another. Karen's love for her family includes her grandchildren; her grandson, Dylan Alan Slamans, and her son, Joey, her precious granddaughter Ashlynn Faye Slamans, and her daughter Elizabeth will always be the brightest lights of her life just as she will be theirs. They all brought such joy into each other's lives. And they all inherited Karen's unfailing, optimistic, happy personality that has no boundaries, and her sweetness, charm, and love for others. And the man who completed this blessed family, the ultimate love of her life, Ronald Dwayne Prine shares a bond with Karen that will never be broken. The Mass of Christian Burial will be Friday, December 29, 2006 at noon at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gulfport with visitation from 11 a.m. until the service at the church. Karen's final resting place will be next to her beloved maternal grandmother-godmother, Etta Dean Salkowski at Southern Memorial Park in Biloxi following the service.