Helene Berman Karpa, a third-generation Washingtonian whose decades of leadership in Hadassah and other Jewish organizations made her a prominent figure in the capital region’s Jewish community, died on March 20 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. She was 95.
Karpa served as president of the Greater Washington Area Chapter of Hadassah from 1972 to 1975, later became a national vice president and spent 34 years on Hadassah’s National Board, helping shape the organization’s leadership, communications and public image during an era of expansion and change.
She also served as president of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington from 1984 to 1986, extending her influence beyond Hadassah into the broader Jewish life of the nation’s capital. A devoted member of Adas Israel Congregation, she came from a family whose roots in Washington Jewish life stretched back generations.
Family members said Karpa took pride in being a third-generation Washingtonian and in the role her ancestors played in the city’s early Jewish community. Relatives said members of the Berman and related family lines came to Washington from Russia in the late 19th century, joining the wave of Jewish immigrants who helped establish businesses, synagogues and civic institutions in the growing capital. Immigrating much earlier, her great-grandfather, Louis Garner, was among the early founding members of Adas Israel, established in 1869.
“They stayed active in that synagogue for all the generations,” son Jeff Karpa said of the family’s ties to Adas Israel.
Earlier generations of the family were involved in commerce as Washington developed into a larger and more prosperous city, Jeff Karpa said. The family’s liquor business eventually became Vintage Wine and Liquor on Connecticut Avenue in Woodley Park, where it operated for many years and became well known locally.
Karpa grew up first in a Northwest Washington row house on Emerson Street and later on Davenport Street, where relatives said she was raised in a loving and close-knit household. Those roots gave her a strong sense of history and continuity.
She attended Washington public schools and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1949. She studied at Marjorie Webster Junior College and later earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Ohio University. She was a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi, a Jewish sorority, and Delta Phi Delta honorary art fraternity.
Art and design remained central to her life. Her daughter, Carol Karpa, who later became active in Hadassah herself, said her mother was a talented artist with a sharp sense of color who worked in the design and advertising department at Sears before later becoming an interior decorator and travel agent. Her love of travel took her to Europe, Asia and Russia.
She married Morton “Morty” Karpa in 1953, a marriage that lasted nearly five decades until his death in 2002. He worked as a liquor salesman, and together they built a Jewish home centered on family life, holiday observance, synagogue affiliation and support for Israel. They raised their children first in Baltimore and later in Silver Spring.
As her children grew older, Karpa assumed increasingly prominent leadership roles in Hadassah and other Jewish organizations, where her creativity and organizational skills drew wide respect.
“She wanted the best for Hadassah and for Israel, and she was a very strong leader,” said Judy Garner, a longtime friend, relative through marriage and fellow Hadassah leader.
Karpa became especially known for the creative work she brought to Hadassah’s exhibits, displays and communications. She chaired the organization’s national exhibit and display program for 15 years and later oversaw communications functions at the national office, where she worked on printed materials, displays, videos and presentations.
Garner said Karpa helped give Hadassah a more modern and polished public image. During one Hadassah convention in Jerusalem, Karpa arranged for Hadassah Hospital to be adorned with an oversized red ribbon, symbolizing the institution as a gift to Israel and humanity.
“She got such a kick out of that,” Garner said.
Karpa’s wit was also well known. During a period when she worked in an interior office at Hadassah headquarters in New York, Garner recalled, Karpa drew a window on the wall beside her desk so she could joke that she had a view.
“She cared about how Hadassah presented itself,” Carol Karpa said. “She was very focused on making sure everything looked perfect.”
Karpa’s commitment to Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, was rooted in Zionist conviction as well as community service, her family said. She took particular pride in Hadassah’s hospitals in Israel and often spoke about their treatment of patients regardless of religion or background.
In retirement, Karpa remained intellectually engaged, taking classes through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Friends and family said she stayed interested in current events, culture and the people around her.
Family members described her as loving, intelligent and steadfastly supportive. Her daughter said Karpa was her strongest advocate and a guiding force throughout her life. Relatives said she delighted in her grandson, Sean.
To the end, she retained the humor that had long defined her. When Garner called shortly before a planned lunch and learned Karpa was in the hospital, she asked what had happened.
“I’m old. I’m 95,” Karpa replied.
Garner said that answer was pure Helene.
“She was very special,” she said.
Ellen Braunstein is a freelance writer.
