Karl Straus

Asheville - Karl Straus, Community Leader and Attorney, Dies at 96.

Karl H. Straus, an attorney for more than 65 years, known for his community involvement and leadership, died in Asheville, NC, September 6th after a brief illness.

Mr. Straus was born in Mannheim, Germany, in 1921 and immigrated to the United States in 1936 to escape Nazi Germany. He moved to Asheville, NC, in 1952, and, began and built the firm that would later be known as Patla, Straus, Robinson & Moore, P.A.

Because Mr. Straus believed that his community had offered him extraordinary opportunities, he wanted to give back, and he became a pillar of the community. He served in leadership roles on numerous boards and committees, including the UNCA and the UNCA Foundation Board of Trustees, and the boards of Memorial Mission Hospital, Wachovia Bank, the Asheville Tourists Baseball Club, Gibbons Hall School, the Capital Bank Corporation, the Buncombe County Bar Association, Congregation Beth Ha Tephila, the Asheville Symphony, Brevard Music Center, and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

To provide pro bono legal services for those in need, he helped found the Legal Aid Society, now Pisgah Legal Services, where he served both as board member and as board chairman.

He gave his heart to fighting intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination, and volunteered his time with the Asheville Chapter of the National Association of Christians and Jews and the Asheville Buncombe Human Relations Council.

Mr. Straus was an avid runner well into his seventies, and in 1992, UNCA dedicated its running track to him. He had the privilege of carrying the Olympic torch in the 1984 Summer Olympics Torch Relay.

In 1942, Mr. Straus tried to join the military, but was rejected as an "enemy alien." As soon as

he became an American citizen, he became a member of the US Army Air Corps, then transferred to the Allied Military Government for postwar Germany. He received a bronze star for his work in the denazification program of the Allied Military Government. Returning to the United States in 1946, Mr. Straus benefited from the GI Bill to attend college and law school at New York University, while also working at a gas station.

He started dating the love of his life, the late Sylvia Patla, in NY, an Asheville native, and together they returned to Asheville, where they started their family. He is survived by three children and their spouses, Lisa Straus and Jim Bethel of Washington, DC; Hank Straus and Karen Barwick of Chapel Hill, NC; and Joel Straus and Nancy Zwick, of Evanston, IL; three grandchildren, Max Mizell of Delray Beach, FL; and Nathan and Isabel Straus of Evanston, IL; and several nieces and nephews, who will miss his playfulness, love, and wisdom.

The funeral will be held at Temple Beth Ha Tephila, September 10, at 1:00 pm. Contributions in his memory can be made to Pisgah Legal Services, UNCA, or Temple Beth Ha Tephila.

Morris Funeral Home, 304 Merrimon Avenue is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be sent through the website www.morrisfamilyfuneralhome.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Asheville Citizen-Times on Sep. 9, 2017.

Memories and Condolences
for Karl Straus

Sponsored by Morris Funeral & Cremation Care - Asheville.

6 Entries

Bernhard Conrad

September 18, 2017

Karl was our friend. Gracie and I will miss him. Although he is gone, he will be present and remembered as long as we live.

Bernie and Gracie Conrad

Lyn Leslie

September 13, 2017

My husband Tom and I knew Karl for the last 36 years of his life. Most significantly, I knew him as a man thoroughly in love with his wonderful wife, Sylvia, who loved him equally in return, and who provided him with a well grounded sounding board for his very active mind. I am sure they are together again after only this brief separation since Sylvia passed. Karl had a great sense of humor and, it seems to me, he lived his life fully, with intensity and great focus. It was our pleasure to have known him and we miss him.

September 12, 2017

To Hank, Lisa, Joel and your families,

I only knew your father from our yearly Straus clan X-mas gatherings in Brevard as a youth. After reading his obituary, I realize there was much I didn't know about Karl and I can say that I'm proud to have known such an amazing human being . . . such a stalwart, compassionate and contributing member of society.

Two years after Harry Straus helped your father into this country to escape the Nazis, he helped my father into the US for the same reason. We are the fortunate ones.

You are lucky to have had your father around for such a long time (mine's been gone for 29 years) and I know that you will miss him dearly. May your many fond memories carry you through.

With heartfelt condolence,

Ann Goldberger Davis

September 11, 2017

My late husband, Albert Hargrove, and Karl were friends for many years. We were friends with Karl and Sylvia but sadly lost touch after my second marriage. They will always have a special place in my heart. Only recently I came across snapshots of the four of us and they brought back happy times we had together. Time goes by so fast and the hardest thing I have delt with as I get older is the loss of so many friends and loved ones.

May God be with the children, grandchildren and all the ones that loved them too!

Linda (Hargrove) Crawford and Glenn Crawford

Erika Conrad-Wess

September 10, 2017

Though it has been many years since I saw Mr. Straus, I have such fond memories of him and Mrs. Straus. As Mr. Straus was my grandfather's friend and attorney, he and Mrs. Straus were fixtures at company Christmas parties and family gatherings. They danced at our weddings and celebrated major birthdays with us. As a child, I thought of them as extended family, and they treated us as such, too. They're kindness and genuine interest in what I had to say always made me feel significant and cared for. And I knew that whatever happened to me, Mr. Straus considered taking care of my Opa's family was not just a matter of business, it was a matter of honor. The Strauses were among the exceptional people in this world and I know they will both be missed.

Don Whitaker

September 10, 2017

Karl was a kind and gentle man, anytime we met a smile would be on his face and he would be ready to share a witticism with his friend. A moral man whose priorities were his faith in God, family and Asheville the city he loved.
A very close friend and role model will be missed.

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