Karen "KT" Lee Kaufman

Karen Lee "KT" (nee Thomas) Kaufman passed away peacefully on Monday, May 4, 2020 with her husband and daughters by her side. KT was born in Birmingham, Alabama on January 3, 1959. She was the beloved daughter of Donise and Richard Thomas and little sister to Connie and Kathy. Their family moved a lot when she was younger due to Richard’s job, but they settled in Las Vegas when KT was in third grade. She attended St. Viator Catholic School and then Bishop Gorman High School (’76), where she made lifelong friends that she still kept in touch with to this day.

At the age of 22, she became one of the first female bell captains on the Las Vegas Strip while working at the Flamingo in 1981.

The Flamingo bell desk is where she met her future husband Ken. She was his boss, a fact that she so lovingly exploited from time to time when a guest’s bag went missing, sending Ken on a mission not to return until the bag was found. He was always someone she could rely on, in and out of work. While at the top of her game, she was one of the few chosen to be a part of the elite team to open The Mirage in 1989. KT would later retire from the Strip to go on and help her husband, Ken, start a successful business and stay home with their two loving girls.

KT and Ken married in Tahoe, Nevada surrounded by family and friends. Not long after they welcomed their first daughter, Amanda, and two years later, Dena. She was the center of their lives. KT had a sweet, caring, generous soul that she shared with everyone she met. She loved catching up with friends, traveling, cooking, and most of all the cozy nights in with her family. She was always that person you could count on, day or night; a once in a lifetime kind of wife, mother, and friend. She was able to touch the hearts and lives of everyone she met. Even after her diagnosis of breast cancer in 2012, she never let it define her. She continued to live life to the fullest. Her participation and success in Immunotherapy clinical trials created a long lasting impact in the medical community and changed the way triple negative breast cancer is treated in women today. KT was the epitome of strength and bravery.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Richard and Donise Thomas and is survived by her husband of 29 years, Ken; daughters, Amanda and Dena; sisters, Connie Newton and Kathy Clark; stepmother, Karen Bramwell-Thomas; and the many people who will love and cherish her forever.

KT and her family would love for everyone to celebrate her life.

As a family we would love any photos and stories you may have of our Mom. Please forward them to [email protected]. We look forward to celebrating her and cherishing her memory.