Gertrude "Trudy" M. Karr

Gertrude “Trudy” M. Karr, 85, passed away on December 18, 2025.

Born May 15, 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she spent her childhood and most of her life in Baltimore, Maryland. Trudy was the daughter of Gertrude F. Karr (1908-2003) and Allen P. Karr (1903-1979), and the beloved older sister of R. Patricia Walsh (1945–2006). Never married, she built a life rich in connection, surrounded by family and friends.

She attended Seton High School and pursued higher education in the sciences and beyond, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and later completing an M.B.A. in finance at Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in computer science at Towson State University. Trudy devoted more than three decades to Johns Hopkins University (1961–1992) as laboratory director in Dr. William F. Harrington’s muscle function research laboratory, mentoring generations of trainees, publishing empirical journal articles, and contributing to the work that shaped the lab’s legacy. She later worked at Becton, Dickinson and Company (1992–1997), where she helped advance diagnostic testing and was awarded at least one U.S. patent (U.S. Patent 5,863,751). From 1998 to 2010, she served as a Research Grants Management Officer at the Foundation for Fighting Blindness.

Trudy’s passions included playing the double bass, sailing her boat on the Chesapeake Bay, and extensive travel to various countries such as Canada, Brazil, Peru, Columbia, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Singapore. She was especially fond of adventuring to the Amazon River basin, where she delighted in photographing the Ticuna people and collecting their cultural artworks, including bark paintings.

Trudy is survived by her two nieces, Jennifer P. Walsh and Lisa C. Walsh; her nephew, Jeffrey D. Walsh; her nephew-in-law, Tim Yeo; her grandnephew, Jon D. Tsuruta; her grandniece, Emiko R. Tsuruta; and her brother-in-law, David A. Walsh. She is also survived by her five cousins and their spouses, who served as her guardian angels in her final years: Catherine Carhart Sigmon; Stephanie Carhart Haines and her husband, Michael Haines; Glenda Carhart Shamer and her husband, John Shamer; John Carhart III and his wife, Kathy Carhart; and James Carhart and his wife, Bobbie Carhart.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, December 27th, at 1pm, at Saint Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church, 2930 Hanover Pike, Manchester, MD, with celebrant Father Collin Poston. She will be laid to rest at Saint Denis Cemetery in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to The Foundation for Fighting Blindness at give.fightingblindness.org

Arrangements are by the ECKHARDT FUNERAL CHAPEL, P.A., Manchester, MD.