Martinsburg Mourns Death Of Long-Time Mayor George Karos

Berkeley County residents and public officials are mourning the death of a long-time civil servant, whom many viewed as a fixture of the community and a welcoming face in local government.

Former Mayor George Karos died Sunday at the age of 93, the City of Martinsburg announced Monday morning.

Karos served as an at-large member of Martinsburg City Council from 1976 to 2000, then as mayor of Martinsburg from 2000 to 2020 — a career in public office that spanned more than four decades. After his parents moved to the city from Greece, Karos spent nearly his entire life living in Martinsburg.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., recounted the former mayor’s path to local government in August 2020, delivering remarks on the floor of the United States Senate to commemorate his retirement.

“George and I started our careers together, because I started as his congresswoman in the year 2000 and George started as mayor,” Capito said. “I speak for all of those from the Martinsburg community when I say that Mayor Karos truly made Martinsburg a better place to work and live.”

As a young adult, Karos briefly left Berkeley County to serve in the Medical Corps of the United States Navy, Capito said. He was also a local business owner, buying and operating a pharmacy downtown where he had worked growing up.

As mayor, Karos worked to revitalize downtown Martinsburg, construct new water treatment facilities, spearhead economic development projects and expand local infrastructure, former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., wrote in an August 2020 op-ed commemorating his retirement.

“West Virginians have an exceptional can-do spirit; a neighborly love that is unrelenting,” Manchin wrote. “We are grounded by the same core principle: to help others be the best they can be. That is Mayor Karos’s legacy as a community leader.”

Eddie Gochenour, president of the Berkeley County Commission, previously served as Martinsburg fire captain for more than 32 years, during which he worked closely with Karos.

He said a crowning jewel of the former mayor’s administration was extending Martinsburg’s North Raleigh Street from Race Street to Edwin Miller Boulevard, better connecting local highways to the city’s downtown.

“He had advocated [for] that for years,” Gochenour told West Virginia Public Broadcasting. “That has eased up a lot of traffic on Queen Street, and made accessibility much quicker to the north end of the city.”

In 2022, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed a resolution to rename a bridge on Raleigh Street as Mayor George Karos Bridge, although the resolution never passed the West Virginia Senate.

Current Mayor Kevin Knowles also worked with Karos in a professional capacity. The two first met around 2004, and began working together when Knowles was elected to Martinsburg City Council in 2012, he told WVPB.

From his perspective serving as a councilman under Karos, Knowles described his predecessor as capable of bringing together people with diverse viewpoints and working toward common interests.

“He was the kind of guy that, when you met him, you liked him, no matter what side of the fence you’re on,” Knowles said. “He was very professional, always in a suit and tie. And if you ever needed a conversation, he always had an ear for you.”

Knowles said Karos embodied “old-school values and morals,” which “you don’t find too much anymore.”

“I remember him telling me, ‘You never have to tell me why you made the vote, just as long as you felt good about your vote. Whether it be on one episode or the other,’” Knowles said. Karos “was able to work with both sides of the aisle, able to bring people together to get things and make things happen.”

Gochenour said Karos had a uniquely approachable quality, valuing conversation among people with different perspectives over conflict.

“He wanted to sit down and try to find solutions to the different issues,” Gochenour said. “My takeaway from that would be that it is not always about you. It’s about the bigger good, to come together and work on common solutions and move forward together.”

“My condolences to his family and his friends on behalf of the Berkeley County Commission,” Gochenour added.

In a Facebook post shared Monday, Capito offered words of condolence to Karos’s family, and praised his legacy as a local leader.

“Serving as mayor of Martinsburg for 20 years, George’s dedication and passion for bettering his community left a lasting legacy on our entire state,” the post reads. “From the moment we met, I knew he was a strong leader and a wonderful friend to all.”