Karl Averell Limbach

Karl was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1932 to Oscar and Natalie Limbach. His sister is Louise Limbach Spangler and his brother is George Calvin Limbach. The family home was in Hudson, Ohio. Karl graduated from Western Reserve Academy in 1950 before going to Middlebury College in Vermont. He was President of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and graduated in 1954 with a degree in Math and a great interest in Physics and Chemistry.

Karl met Lois Robinson at Middlebury and they married in 1954 and celebrated their 60th Anniversary last year. Karl and Lois moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Karl attended Western Reserve School of Law where he became the President of the student body and a member of the Order of the Coif. During law school he worked at his father’s patent law firm. His father died suddenly in 1956. Karl and his brother remembered that their father had felt that San Francisco was his favorite city in the world so they decided to look for jobs there after graduation. They each found jobs just as Silicon Valley was taking off. They worked in different firms until 1968 when they started their own firm, Limbach and Limbach. The main office was in the historic Ferry Building in San Francisco. It was the only law office in town where you could fish out the window. His practice was devoted mainly to patent litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Karl was a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation and had served his terms as President of the San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association and Chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California. The firm dissolved in 2000 when the Ferry Building was renovated.

Karl and Lois have two children: a daughter, Leigh Limbach Johnson of Portola Valley and a son, Robert Calvin Limbach of Olympic Valley. Leigh and her husband, Roy, have two children: a son, Calvin Karl Johnson, and a daughter, Natalie Sydney Johnson. Karl’s mother and his sister and her family had moved to the area to provide lots of nieces and nephews for family events. He lived for 25 years in Orinda and 30 years in Belvedere.

Karl became interested in sailing and bought several boats before deciding that a Farallon Clipper was perfect. The longest sail on Cedalion was down to Los Angeles for the Olympics in 1984. He sailed other boats in the British Virgin Islands, Puget Sound and Fiji. Karl was Commodore of the St. Francis Yacht Club in 1991. He was a member of the San Francisco Yacht Club.

He died at home on May 21, 2015. A Memorial Service will be held at the St. Francis Yacht Club on Sunday, June 14, at 3 p.m.