Martin Lind Karp

Martin L. Karp, a widely respected business and civic leader who built one of Savannah’s oldest accounting firms, passed away on February 3. He was 90 years old.

Martin was at home under the care of his daughter, Karen, of New York, and sons, Jonathan and Peter, of Los Angeles. Pauline Chazen Karp, whom he married in 1958, passed away in 2004.

A native Savannahian, Martin Lind Karp was admired for his integrity, kindness and intellect. Martin was born on December 3, 1929, to A.L. (“Larry”) and Mary Karp. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Emory University in 1951 and, after serving in the Army, returned to Emory as one of 12 students in its first MBA graduating class (1955).

Martin turned down a job offer in New York and joined the accounting practice his father had founded in 1925, creating Karp & Karp. For half a century after his Larry’s death, Martin led the growth of the firm, which is now named KRT CPAs. In addition to serving a range of individual and business clients, the firm long conducted audits for the Savannah and Chatham County governments.

As managing partner, Martin earned the devotion and love of his staff, partners and clients. He lived up to his motto, “Stay Busy,” and even after stepping back from fulltime work, he continued to head into the office well into his 80s, serving clients and using his deep institutional memory to advise KRT partners. A pillar of Savannah’s business community, Martin was sought out for his wise, trusted financial counsel and he always found time to help others, from managing family estates for friends to serving leading Savannah organizations.

Martin served as the longtime Treasurer of the Board of Trustees at Savannah Country Day School in the 1970s and 1980s and was tapped to be the first Treasurer of the “Night in Old Savannah” cultural festival. He inherited a sense of civic duty from his father, who served as a Savannah alderman from 1949 to 1954. Martin volunteered his time at local causes that Pauline had championed, serving as an Endowment Director at Historic Savannah Foundation’s Davenport House and as a Community Advisor to the Savannah Tree Commission.

A member of Mickve Israel and Bnai Brith Jacob congregations, Martin also was a longstanding supporter of the Savannah Jewish Federation and Jewish Educational Alliance.

Among his many interests, Martin was a font of knowledge about Savannah’s business history. He loved recounting stories about local merchants and entrepreneurs and shared his memories in oral history projects. These recollections attest to the major events that shaped his life, starting with the Great Depression, and the importance of creating bonds among people of all races, faiths and socio-economic standing. He was fiercely loyal to his friends and regularly went out of his way to help them in hard times.

Martin was deeply devoted to his immediate and extended family. A lover of classical music and an avid reader of history, he imbued his children with intellectual curiosity and a global outlook, not to mention a love of travel.

One of his cherished mementos was an album of photographs taken during a tour of Europe, in an MG convertible, after his military service in Germany. Later, Martin often traveled abroad to visit his far-flung children. In 1983, when Karen was teaching art history in Hong Kong, he made his first visit to China, just as the country was opening up to the world. Jonathan, who spent many years as a foreign correspondent, lured his father to Israel, India and Brazil. Even in his eighties, Martin traveled to Japan, Eastern Europe to visit his mother’s hometown in Ukraine and made one last trip to Israel in 2013. Ultimately, he was perhaps happiest sitting on the porch of his house on Tybee enjoying the afternoon breeze.

In addition to his three children, Martin is survived by daughters-in-law Miriam Jordan (Jonathan) and Angela Ruman (Peter); three grandchildren, Maya and Daniel (Jonathan) and Olivia (Peter); and sister Ruth Karp Katz, of Atlanta.

Graveside Service will take place on Friday, February 7, at 1:30 p.m. at Bonaventure Cemetery, with Rabbi Haas officiating. Remembrances: the Jewish Community Foundation of Savannah and Hospice Savannah. Baker McCullough Funeral Home at 7415 Hodgson Memorial Dr Savannah, GA, 31416, (912) 927-1999.