BARBARA M. KARAS

1930 - 2024

KARAS, Barbara M. Much Loved and Respected By All Barbara May Karas was a wife, mother, sister, aunt, bubbe and a much loved and respected member of every community she chose to join. Born on September 22, 1930, in Chelsea, she spent her childhood in a small apartment with her mother, father, brother, grandparents and assorted uncles and aunts. She would never call herself a feminist, but she was one. Barbara was the first female president of Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Chestnut Hill. She was a sought-after public speaker, who spoke from her head and her heart, never from a script. In her forties, she went to work at her family's glass company, Karas & Karas Glass, but most of her years were spent volunteering for whatever struck her passion-as a ward manager for her friend Theodore Mann's many successful campaigns for mayor of Newton, as a board member of the pioneering Newton Television Foundation, which funded original programming in the early years of cable TV, or operating the Mishkan Tefila gift shop with her best friend, Charlotte Kaitz. When she saw a problem, she fixed it. She spent days standing on the corner outside her house on Great Meadow and Brandeis Roads in Newton, lobbying for a stop sign. She got it-and it's still there. When she wasn't running something or other, she was reading. The lending library at Lauriat's bookstore would call whenever a new book was in. She would rush over and walk out with two or three books in her hands. A week later she'd be back for two or three more. She did her best to pass her love of reading on to her four children, some with more success than others. When she wasn't reading, she was at the stove in her Kosher kitchen. She was known by her family for her brisket and chicken soup, and by her kids' friends and camp buddies for her brownies and blondies. Her husband, Leo Karas, loved her for almost everything she did, but perhaps nothing more than the Hebrew National hot dogs she made for him every Thursday night for most of their 70-year marriage. Barbara loved the beach. She grew up on it, but never learned to swim. She joined her family on skiing trips to Waterville Valley, but never left the lodge. She loved throwing parties and was no stranger to the world of adult beverages. Barbara loved fashion, and the Max Mara store on Newbury Street loved her. They called whenever something new came in, and she never hesitated. Any color would do, as long as it was black or beige. She had a lifelong love of music, especially Frank Sinatra, whom she saw multiple times-starting in high school, when her great uncle, Max Tennis, persuaded her mother to let her go into to Boston unchaperoned to see her idol. She also saw the Beatles at Boston Garden, though not completely willingly. After she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, she continued to find joy in singing, and she was able to remember 70-year-old lyrics and melodies long after so much else had slipped away. But above all else, Barbara loved Leo. She didn't always agree with him, but she always supported and defended him, even when she knew he was wrong. If she happened to be voting for a Democrat, which she usually was, instead of one his favored moderate Republicans, she did the polite thing and didn't tell him-until later in life, when he finally came around to her side. Barbara and Leo loved to travel, especially to their beloved Israel, which they visited at least a dozen times and where they had many friends, not all of whom were Jewish. They were philanthropists, giving generously to Jewish causes, educational institutions and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, whose New England chapter they founded with three other couples in 1969. Barbara and Leo had a magical marriage, full of love and laughter and holding hands. Her only regret was that they wed on December 25 and therefore had to celebrate every anniversary at a (decidedly non-Kosher) Chinese restaurant, since nothing else was open. In her last days on earth, she told her children she had no fear of dying and no idea what happens to us when we die. "But," she always said, "I hope I can see Leo again." The passing of Barbara May Karas leaves a hole in the lives of her children, their spouses, her grandchildren and her great grandchild: Susan Karas, Claudia Beldengreen, Linda Karas, Joey Karas, Judi Karas, Matty Karas, Allix Karas, Robby Borowski, Ben Karas, Jess Marsh Karas, Ethan Beldengreen-Karas, Brandon Beldengreen-Karas, Julia Beldengreen-Karas and Charlie Karas. Graveside service will be held at Mishkan Tefila Memorial Park, 2659 Centre St., West Roxbury, MA, on Sunday, August 11, 2024 at noon. Shiva will be observed following services at Joseph and Judi Karas residence in Boston Sunday 2 pm- 8 pm and Monday evening 6 pm-8 pm. Donations may be made to Cure Alzheimer's Fund, curealz.org, or to VNA of Boston, vnacare.org.

View the online memorial for Barbara M. KARAS