Coming from an outdoorsy family with much interest in boating and engineering, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out who the Karas family really was and how they have influenced my family generations later.
Joseph Karas and his entrepreneurial spirits came to America from Austria/Hungary in search of a higher quality life. Catherine, who later became Joseph’s wife, was born and raised in Germany and came to America with a group of friends in search of greater opportunities and adventures. In America, the couple founded Karas Electric where they later employed their three sons, Siegfried, Albert, and Leland. The Karas family lived contently until the Depression hit and the two eldest sons, Siegfried and Albert, were forced to leave Karas Electric in order to find jobs that could support their own families. Albert was an electrician. Siegfried, my grandma’s father, became a fuller brush man – a door-to-door salesman who sold an abundance of household necessities. As a side job, Siegfried owned vending machines in which he sold nuts. Fortunately, the youngest son, Leland, who did not have kids to support at the time, was able to remain a part of the company. Leland was able to accomplish something unusual for the time period in which he lived: graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a mechanical engineering degree. A few generations later, my father and his uncles, Dick and Bob, graduated with the same degree. The education Leland earned at Wisconsin provided him with the skills needed to operate and maintain his racing yacht.
The passion for boating originated at Joseph Karas’ cottage on the Chain Lakes in Northeast Illinois. Albert and Leland loved going out on their father’s boat. After the Depression, the two brothers opened their own boatyard just off the Chicago River where they built and sold boats. Leland bought the boat, Siren, in New York City and was then inspired
to sail in the Mackinac Cup, which he went on to win ten times. The annual 333-mile boat race starts at the Chicago lighthouse and finishes at Mackinac Island. The race remains the longest fresh water sailing race in the world.
Leland was a brilliant skipper and was known for his ability to navigate the route to Mackinac without the use of a map. Leland captured his ten titles between 1927 and 1949. In addition to the ten cups that Leland captained, he was part of the crew in another three victorious efforts to Mackinac. Though he did not win on any boats that he built, he often worked on and upgraded his boats before the next year’s race. Leland wasn’t the only Karas that acquired a love for boating.
Siegfried Karas had three children, Dick, Bob, and my grandma Joyce, who also spent their summers at Joseph Karas’ cottage. Since my grandma was much younger than her brothers, one of the few things they could enjoy together was taking the boat out and going fishing. Because of the bond they created while fishing at the cottage, my grandma developed a love for fishing and boating. To this day, she and my grandpa have a fishing boat that they take out every weekday in the summers. They also take my dad, brother, and me to Canada every other year on a fishing trip. The Karas family is to thank for the love of the water that the Beutler family has today and the wonderful memories I have made in Canada.
Works Consulted
“Countdown to the 107th CYC Race to Mackinac – July 11, 2015.” Race Course. Chicago Yacht Club, 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014.
Karas to Seek 10th Mackinac Racing Crown. 1949. Chicago. By Dick Joiner.