G. Neil Karn

1947 - 2023

Gary Neil Karn, 76, died on October 3, 2023. He was the son of Herman B. Karn and Francis Ebberts Karn.

Karn was born on June 9, 1947 in Greenville, OH, where his love of hard work began. He started his career as his hometown's paperboy of the year, an achievement that landed him the opportunity to visit the King of Spain.

Karn later earned a Bachelors of Science from Miami of Ohio University, where he studied political science, a foundation that supported him as he spent more than 30 years as an organizational development and change management leader. But in his long career, he was proudest of his work with VISTA, fighting the War on Poverty through such programs as Cabin Creek Quilts, which worked with coal miners' wives and widows in the Cabin Creek area of West Virginia to sell their traditional patchwork designs even as far as New York's Fifth Avenue, the White House, and Beverly Hills.

During his time as the director of the Virginia Division of Volunteerism, Karn helped create a new accounting process for non-profits, publishing an article titled "The No-Apologies Budget: How to Justify the Financial Support a Volunteer Program Deserves" in the 1984 spring issue of Voluntary Action Leadership. The article served as the first strong argument for truly adequate funding of volunteer efforts.

Karn was a voracious reader and a lifelong baseball fan, spending many a late night with his nose in books about baseball statistics. He loved the beach, his family, and above all, laughter.

Although he didn't become the first United States president from Greenville, like many from his town suspected when he was young, he would say he lived a fabulous life.

Karn is survived by his wife, Donna Highfill, two children, Jacob and Samantha Highfill, brother, Jack Karn, sisters-in-law Mary and Karen Karn, niece Bethany Plungis, and nephew Scott Karn.