Architecture Firm Honors Friend and Mentor

Reprinted Courtesy of KSU Foundation

There is no doubt that Gary Karst has left his mark in this world. The architect, who spent 41 years designing for Horst, Terrill and Karst Architects, PA, in Topeka, Kansas, designed more than 80 notable buildings in Kansas during his lifetime.

But Gary, a 1960 graduate of K-State’s College of Architecture, Planning, and Design who died in July after battling leukemia, will be remembered for much more than his design talent. The four current partners of HTK established the Gary G. Karst Scholarship for architecture students at K-State ­- the university Gary loved so dearly - to honor their friend and mentor.

Gary was born in 1936, the youngest child of German immigrants Emil and Clara Karst. He barely spoke English when he began his early education in a one-room schoolhouse near Galatia, Kansas. His parents later sold their farm and moved to Great Bend, Kansas, so that Gary could attend high school.

Following graduation, he attended Fort Hays State University for two years and transferred to K-State to finish his degree. Before his K-State classes began, Gary met Loretta Marie Staub, and they were married in 1957.

“He had three years [of college] left when we got married. I worked and helped him continue to go to school even when we had a baby,” Loretta said “It meant so much to him and his parents that he graduated from K-State.”

“He loved K-State,” Loretta said. “He had quite a passion for architecture and design, and part of that came from his education at K-State.”

Loretta and Gary had three children: Kevin Karst, Sheri Curran and Stacey Utech. The couple would often return to Manhattan as they watched their children and grandchildren attend K-State.

“He was so pleased when all three of our children wanted to go to K-State and even more pleased when two of our grandchildren went,” Loretta said. “They [the two grandchildren] were impressed enough to come from out of state to K-State instead of going to an Oklahoma school.”

Gary and Loretta moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 1960, when he joined HTK. He was the principal and director of design at the firm and would eventually become a partner.

“He did a lot with his degree, and I was proud of him,” Loretta said. “He was a dedicated college student and also a very dedicated businessman. He was very strict and quite a stickler with his buildings. It didn’t make any difference what he designed or built with his own hands; he would build it to great specifications.”

Mark Franzen, a current partner at HTK, met Gary more than 26 years ago during a nine-month long student internship and agreed that Gary was a diligent designer.

“I quickly found out that Gary was a ‘working machine’ at the office,” Franzen said. “He worked 41 calendar years, but I am sure that we got more than 60 years of time from Gary during his career. Gary had so much design talent and energy that he would leave you shaking your head in awe while trying to keep up with him.”

Franzen said that those qualities, as well as Gary’s commitment to civic and social responsibility, integrity and ethical conduct, and his strong leadership, made him a mentor for many architects practicing in Kansas today, several of whom are now leading principals in firms throughout the state.

Charles Smith, another current HTK partner, shared his feelings of gratitude with Gary before his death. “I told Gary, ‘You have seen all of us [partners] grow from young “wanna-be” architects to who we are today. You have shaped a great deal of the men we are and how we conduct ourselves. You have an ability to lead and teach young men, not only how to be good architects, but more importantly, how to be good people.”

The four current partners of HTK wanted to be sure that the man who had helped shape their architecture careers would be remembered by future generations at K-State.

Franzen, a 1983 graduate of K-State, along with fellow HTK partners and K-Staters, Smith, ‘90, Don Pruitt, ‘76, and Keith Blackburn, ‘84, established a scholarship for fourth- and fifth-year architecture students at K-State in Gary’s memory.

“He [Gary] was so touched by it,” Loretta said. “He just couldn’t believe that the four young men who own his firm now were going to do that for him. It made him cry to even talk about it.”

The scholarship will provide financial assistance to students enrolled in the Department of Architecture at K-State. Preference will be given to students who are from a small community and exhibit tremendous leadership qualities, excellent design skills and a passion for architecture.

“We felt we owed it to Gary to make this gift, which represents the passion he had for architecture and design,” Franzen said.

For more information, contact:
Bruce Broce, 785.532.7510
Diane Potts, 785.532.1090