Karen Silverhawk Helenurm

Karen Silverhawk Helenurm was born in Toronto, Ontario, on April 21, 1952, to Margot (née Aunapuu) Helenurm and Kalju Helenurm. She grew up in Willowdale, a suburb of Toronto. She was a very talented student, much beloved by all her teachers. She loved dance with a passion, and when she graduated from Northview Heights Secondary School in 1970, she studied ballet at many different studios including Boris Volkoff Studios and performed for the Canadian Dance Company in Toronto. Karen moved to New York City in July 1972 to pursue ballet and soon developed strong interests in Indian dance and spiritual pursuits. She lived in Maryland, Virginia, and southern California before moving to Victoria, BC, in 1977. Her first child, Bran Michael, was born in 1982 by Philippe Desquieu; they moved to Quadra Island in 1987. In 1990 Karen and Bran embarked on a trip around the USA, driving down the west coast to Los Angeles, across to New York City and Boston, and back to Arizona where they lived in Sedona for a year before returning to Victoria in late 1992. Karen's second child, Nova Bridgid by Gavin Hanson, was born in 1993. Through the rest of the 1990's to 2004 Karen was self-employed while acting as a stay-at-home mother. She was directly involved with the development of the Estonian community established by Eva Eichenbaum Barnes in Victoria from 1995-2004. Karen ran many small businesses and began her own meditation group that met bimonthly, for those with spiritual interests, in 2002. She also organized and presented celebrations of the Equinoxes and Solstices for the community at the Yurt on Killdeer Rd., for a period of 10 years. Karen started working in interior design in 2006, and opened her own design business, Kiva Design, in 2009. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2011 and almost died on the day of diagnosis. She had known she had had breast cancer for the 10 years prior but had not told anyone for fear of getting forced into chemotherapy as a treatment. After 2 weeks in the hospital, Karen returned home where she appeared to be gaining health and strength. In April 2012 her health began to decline again and she was admitted to palliative hospice care in June 2012. She died from breast cancer on July 14, 2012. She is survived by her father, Kalju; her aunt, Aime; her brother, Kaius, and her children, Bran and Nova. A private celebration of life for Karen will be held for family and friends in mid-August. Donations can be made to the Victoria Hospice & Palliative Care Foundation at RJH by clicking above on the "send gift" tab.