Obituary: Herbert Ray Karp
The Atlanta native was a World War II Army veteran, an accomplished professional artist and a businessman.
Herbert Ray Karp died Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, at the age of 94.
He was born in Atlanta on Dec. 28, 1923, and lived here his entire life. He attended Boys’ High, then Emory University. He joined the Army, serving in France during World War II. It was love at first sight on a weekend pass at the JCC in Kansas City, Mo., when he spotted his soon-to-be sweetheart, Estelle, singing as the soloist onstage. In their almost 71 years of marriage, he ran a successful automotive parts business. In addition to his business, he was an accomplished professional artist, including designing costumes and sets for many Ahavath Achim Sisterhood productions, and he even created the chuppahs for his two daughters’ weddings — later donated to the synagogue for others to enjoy.
After he served in France, he stayed in Paris to study art. His art teacher asked him to stay and be her protégé. He showed every summer in the Piedmont Park Arts Festival. He had several one-man art shows and a number of commissioned art pieces, including a mosaic called “The Kabuki” for the Montag family and a mosaic called “Scheherazade” for the Meyer family of State Wholesalers. He also had a commissioned sculpture of a candelabra hanging on the wall in a funeral home in Decatur.
His hobbies included traveling the world with Estelle, collecting Sumida pottery (prompting a successfully authored book), sharing a love of gourmet dining with four other couples for 41 years, and gardening.
Herbert is survived by his loving wife, Estelle, of 70 wonderful years; his children, Sharon (Bob) Levi and Lauri (Steve) Lavine; grandchildren Audra (Jason) Priluck, Traci (Jeff) Wilensky and Chad (Julia) Lavine; and great-grandchildren Justin and Garrett Priluck, Ava and Dylan Wilensky, and Olivia Lavine.
Sign the online guestbook at dresslerjewishfunerals.com. The funeral will be held at Greenwood Cemetery, 1173 Cascade Road, Southwest Atlanta, at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
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