Leo Karas

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Leo Karas was born on August 15, 1928, to Elia and Fanny Karas in a small house in Beachmont, Mass. There was a small church across the street, and despite his lifelong devotion to Judaism, Leo always claimed he was born in a shrine.

He loved his four children and four grandchildren, and he loved his wife, Barbara, just a little more than he loved himself.

Leo attended Boston Latin School and felt a fierce loyalty to that school for the rest of his life.

After graduating BLS and getting rejected from Harvard, he ran away and joined the Army. Lucky for him, it was just after World War II and just before the Korean war, so he spent his military years hosting an officer’s club in Seoul and learning how to sing Arirang, the Korean national folk song.

After he returned to the states and lost his remaining Army earnings on a single hand of poker, Harvard graciously accepted him.

His biggest accomplishment during his undergraduate years was marrying the beautiful Barbara Eidelman, of Winthrop, on December 25, 1950, having no idea it was a Christian holiday.

For the rest of their lives, they spent their anniversaries dining at Bob Lee’s Islander in Boston’s Chinatown—since everything else was closed—and seeing James Bond movies. Leo was fine with that. Barbara was not.

Their first daughter, Susan Anne, was in attendance when Leo graduated Harvard in 1952, but at one month old she didn’t quite understand what was happening.

Leo’s intention had been to get a graduate degree in architecture, but with a new family and no savings account, he entered the work force instead, joining his father, Elia, and his brothers Arthur and Dave at Karas & Karas Glass Company, where he worked for the rest of his life and developed a passion for all things glass.

He and Barbara had three more children, Linda Lee, Joseph Seth and Matthew David.

Leo and Barbara were absolutely committed to Congregation Mishkan Tefila, spending every Saturday morning and every Jewish holiday, major or minor, in shul. Leo served as president of the congregation, preceding his wife in the same job. They traveled frequently to Israel and kept a pushke on the kitchen counter of their house in Newton, where they moved in 1956.

Leo was born without a middle name, but his children gifted him with one: Zachariah. And he became forever known as LZK.

His lifelong love of the beach led to winter dips in the freezing Atlantic Ocean with the L Street Brownies in South Boston and summer dips in the slightly less freezing Atlantic in Ogunquit, Maine, where he built his dream vacation home. He caught waves, body surfed and flew kites with his beloved grandchildren, Allix, Ben, Ethan and Brandon.

And even though August 15 was neither a major nor minor Jewish holiday, it was a high holy day for the Karas family and all their friends, during which Leo enjoyed being the center of attention and dining on gourmet kosher hot dogs. No other birthday was quite as important as Leo’s, and Leo and Barbara were both fine with that.

Leo spent his final years in Boston, in a beautiful glass condominium that Karas & Karas built.

He is survived and dearly missed by his loving wife, Barbara; his daughter Susan and her wife, Claudia, and their children, Ethan and Brandon; his daughter Linda; his son Joey and his wife, Judi, and their children, Allix and Ben and Ben’s wife, Jess; and his son Matty. Services are private. Shiva will be held Thursday from 4-8pm at The Residences of the Intercontinental Hotel, 500 Atlantic Ave., Boston for fully vaccinated and masked individuals only.  Donations may be made to the New England Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation,www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org or  Alzheimer’s Association, MA/NH Chapter, 309 Waverley Oaks Rd., Waltham, MA 02452, www.alz.org.