John Karpovich

Dr. Karpovich, age 84, passed away Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at Covenant Cooper in Saginaw, following complications from a chronic illness. He was born May 18, 1922 in Caro, the son of the late Roman Mary (Smulka) Karpovich at their country farm outside of Caro. He graduated from Caro High School in 1938 and attended Michigan State College where he earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering. While at Michigan State, he was a member of Tau Beta Pi engineering fraternity and received R.O.T.C. training. He joined the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant, and at the age of 24, was the youngest Major in the Army at that time. He spent World War II in the Asian Theater (stationed in the Philippines). After the war he was employed with General Electric in New York for two years. Then, using the GI Bill, he went to Melbourne, Australia to study where he received his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering. From there, he went to the University of London where he earned his Doctoral Degree in Physics in March of 1953. The University of London also awarded him an honorary degree, the Doctorate of the Empirical College. Thinking he would travel the world for a few years, he stopped in Midland, MI to do a “practice” interview whereupon Dow Chemical Company offered him a job he could not refuse - to investigate and invent anything that interested him. It was here that he met his future wife and earned 34 patents. On July 23, 1960 he married the former Marianne Swern in Midland. In 1963, the couple left Dow and moved to the Caro area farm to raise their growing family. Dr. Karpovich started a Christmas Tree farm that would grow to be the largest tree farm in the lower peninsula at one time. He also continued his research and studies at home, building a laboratory in his back yard. John had a variety of interests that included animal biology and organic farming to sustain his familys food needs. Further, being hard of hearing himself, he worked with Dr. Harold Schuknecht in Detroit on different methods of transmitting sound for a deaf person. One of his more notable activities was leading a tax revolt against excessive taxes on farm land in the mid 1960s. This revolt helped lead to the passage of PA116 Act to protect farmers from excessive taxation. John was a member of the Caro United Methodist Church, the Caro VFW Post #4164 and the DAV. John is survived by his wife of 46 years, Marianne of Caro; four children and their spouses, Michael Pam Karpovich of Caro, Kathy Karpovich of Caro, Christopher Julie Karpovich of River Falls, WI, Lisa Francisco Sanchez of San Antonio, TX; five grandchildren; one brother, Thomas (Anita) Karpovich of Brown City and many nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by two brothers, Wesley Stephen Karpovich and one sister, Anna Benson.