Karen Denise Puleo

May 8, 1961 - March 23, 2022

Sterling, Virginia

Karen was born on May 8, 1961, in Euless, Texas to Myra and Dearle McKnight. Karen passed away after a brief illness on March 23, 2022, surrounded by love. Family and friends will greatly miss Karen's sense of humor and funny stories. She loved her children, grandchildren and the love of her life, her husband Richard. Karen found great joy in visiting zoos and aquariums wherever she traveled. She led an accomplished and meaningful career as a federal employee protecting our national security. Karen started her federal career as a clerk with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Karen went on to pursue a career as a federal law enforcement officer achieving the rank of Senior Immigration Inspector. She also served as a Senior Intelligence Officer with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Forensic Document Laboratory before joining U.S. Customs and Border Protection as a CBP Officer and Program Manager at the Fraudulent Document Analysis Unit. Karen was instrumental in the formation of the INS Criminal Enforcement Unit at the Jamaica, N.Y. port of entry. She went on to develop fraudulent document detection training programs, setting the training standards, for domestic and international frontline officers and agents. Federal agencies often called upon Karen's expertise to redesign and improve the security of identity and travel documents.

Karen is survived by her husband, Richard Puleo, son Warren, daughter Jennifer, son-in-law Justin and 4 grandchildren, Kyli, Ryan, Theo and Viggo. The family has requested that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to The National Aquarium or your favorite aquarium or zoo.