Karl Joseph Focht

Services celebrating the life of Karl Joseph Focht, 75, will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, August 10, 2018, at Rose-Neath Marshall Street Chapel, Shreveport, LA. Officiating will be Rev. Sione Tu'uta of The United Methodist Church and Rev. Doug Cain of First United Methodist Church of Natchitoches, LA. Interment will follow at Northwest LA Veterans Cemetery, Keithville, LA at 12:00 p.m. Visitation at Rose-Neath Marshall Street is scheduled Thursday, August 9th from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Karl Joseph Focht, born in West Point, New York on July 12, 1943, was the second child of Colonel Joseph G. Focht and Olga Margaret Schmidt Focht. He passed away unexpectedly in his home on August 3, 2018. He graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, New York, and attended Pennsylvania State University and the United States Air Force Academy. Karl continued his service in the Air Force Reserves until 1968. He began his 40-year career at General Motors in 1964 as a Specifications Engineer at the assembly plant in Tarrytown, New York. His February 1981 promotion to Supervisor and Reliability Engineer brought him to Shreveport. After retirement, he opened Automotive Quality Associates, LLC. The business served as a company liaison to GM parts suppliers and prospered for years. Even after two retirements, Karl preferred to work and enjoyed meeting new people as a part-time driver for Hertz Rent-a-Car. He learned from George Ellwinger how to repair antique clocks, and turned his hobby into Karl's Clocks, LLC in 2009. Karl is known to family, friends, and neighbors as a kind, selfless, intelligent, loving gentleman who kept a meticulously manicured lawn, enjoyed the outdoors, loved sports cars, and fixed anything and everything that was squeaking, creaking or leaking. Of his many loves - sailboats, dogs, gardens, family - his first was cars, and even worked under his MG with his daughter on his knee. He built wheelchair ramps for those in need. He attended the Bible study at Common Ground and was proud to volunteer with the organization, working on both their campus kitchen and Bright House 2 remodels. He is preceded in death by his parents and his son-in-law Nicholas Quinn. Karl is survived by his loving wife of 36 years Harriet Jane Maharg Focht. The two met in Michigan and married on February 19, 1982 in Marshall, Texas. Also left to cherish his memory are his beloved daughters Tanya Quinn of Hampton, New Hampshire, Lieschen McGarry of Incline Village, Nevada, and Kelly Elizabeth Focht of Shreveport; his sister and brother-in-law Carla and Carl Huber; his nephew Adam Huber; his six grandchildren Meeghan, Hailey, Andrew, Luke, Evangelina, and Addy; and last but not least, his faithful canine companion Zoey. Flowers are appreciated, as are donations in his honor to Common Ground or Pet Savers.