Michael Karp

Michael John Karp, son of Michael Peter Karp and Mary Catherine Purfeerst, was born in Faribault, MN on June 27, 1927 and passed away on November 2, 2022, with his children at his side.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 7, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at the Parker Kohl Funeral Home, 1725 Lyndale Ave. N., Faribault, MN, with Sr. Kathleen Hayes, Pastoral Minister officiating.  Interment will be held at the Calvary Cemetery in Faribault with military honors provided by the Rice County Central Veterans Association.

Visitation will be held at the Parker Kohl Funeral Home on Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Mike graduated from Bethlehem Academy, Faribault, MN with the class of 1945.  He joined the Navy that summer in the waning days of World War II and set sail from the San Diego Naval Base, bound for the Pacific Theatre.  The war ended before his ship reached Japan and was diverted to Okinawa, Japan to pick up troops for their return home.  Along the way, his ship was stationed at the Hawaiian Islands to which he would return in later years, as a snowbird with his wife, Carol.  He married Carol Marie Ford on September 9, 1950 at the St. Paul Cathedral.  After Mike and Carol built their first home in Roseville, MN, they moved to Bovey, MN in 1954 and lived there with their growing family until 1963 when they moved to Faribault, MN and purchased their farm property and made their home.

Professionally, Mike was a pharmacist and established Karp’s Drugstore in Bovey, MN, and later was a partner with Greeman Drug in Bloomington, MN and Payant Drug in Faribault, MN.  Mike also enjoyed raising his children and his many labor-intensive hobbies of farming, raising Charolais cattle, and tending to his apple orchard.  Mike and Carol also enjoyed gardening and maintained large gardens, both at the farm and at Bovey, where he and Carol kept the lake cabin they purchased in 1957, and continued to enjoy their summer retreats, fishing, and the friendships they made during the years they lived in Bovey.  Mike and Carol were also snowbirds, and for 45 years spent most of their winter months in Kona, HI, where they established lifelong friendships.

Mike and Carol raised their five children on the farm and volunteered for their activities, including 4-H, Cub and Boy Scouts.  He was proud of their accomplishments in adulthood and kept them informed of the news from home, and the extended Karp and Ford families.

Mike and Carol cherished their 69 years of marriage until Carol’s passing in 2019.  Mike enjoyed all of his 95-plus years and was able to live on his farm until just a few days before his death.  Mike’s family extends a special thank-you to his caregiver, Carol Musel, who made this possible for the last few years of his life.

Mike is survived by his children, L. Peter Karp (Dee Gutierrez) of Cashmere, WA; Michael (Julie Pettipiece) Karp of Mankato, MN; Rosemary (Robert) Johnson of Faribault, MN; Mary Woods of Carver, MN; daughter-in-law Deb Karp of Lindstrom, MN; his grandchildren Michael Tyler Karp, Benjamin Karp, Jonathan Karp, Elizabeth Karp; Nathan Woods and Morgan Woods; Daniel (Brittni) Karp; great-grandchildren Raine and Michael; his sister Mary Lou (Karp) Pluemer; his brother Richard (Shirley) Karp; his sisters-in-law Doris (Ford) Schussler and Dorothy Ford; his brother-in-law Richard Ford and his wife Blanche; and many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Carol Marie Karp; his son, Charles J. Karp; his parents Michael Peter and Mary Catherine; his sister Catherine (Karp) Mino and her husband Leslie Mino; his sister Cecilia (Karp) Friesen and her husband Gerald Friesen; his brother-in-law Robert Pluemer; his father-in-law Leighton Ford and his wife Margaret; his brothers- and sisters-in-law Donald and Avis Ford, Alan and Joan Ford, and brothers-in-law Robert Ford and Bruce Schussler.

For online tributes and further information, please visit ParkerKohlFH.com