Albany Times Union
Aug. 27, 2000
CLIFTON PARK -- Karen Potter, 40, an award-winning journalist and Managing Editor/Features of the Times Union, died at home Saturday. After 39 years of excellent health, the cause of death was a rare form of bone cancer.
A respected journalist who began her career as a reporter, Potter was responsible for the Times Union's 13 weekly features sections as well as the photography and visual arts departments. The writers, visual artists and editors who reported to her received many awards for journalism excellence.
Born in Joplin, Mo., Potter was raised in Bartlesville, Okla. She was the daughter of Linda and John Potter of Bartlesville, both retired Phillips Petroleum Co. employees. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas with dual degrees in journalism and marketing and was editor of the college newspaper. Potter also received a Rotary International Fellowship for a year of postgraduate study at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Potter worked as a reporter, state capitol bureau chief and editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She joined the Times Union in 1995. She married Steve Campbell, a sports columnist at the Times Union, in 1995 and used the married name of Karen Potter Campbell. They have an 11-month-old daughter, Olivia Sarah. Other survivors include her sister and brother-in-law, Jane and John Cawley, and their children, Katherine and Andrew, of Tulsa, and numerous aunts and uncles.
Calling hours are from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at Townley & Wheeler Funeral Home, 21 Midline Road, Route 146A, Ballston Lake. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Jonesville United Methodist Church, 963 Main St., Jonesville, where Potter was a member.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Ewing's Sarcoma Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, P.O. Box 910888, Dallas, TX 75391-0888.
TOWNLEY & WHEELER FUNERAL HOME
21 Midline Road
Ballston Lake, NY
518-885-5633