Crash takes life of prominent Glendale Realtor

Fred Ortega

Gisele Karsa, a prominent local Realtor and longtime director with

the Glendale Assn. of Realtors, was killed in a traffic collision

along with her husband as the couple traveled on the Ventura (101)

Freeway Friday afternoon, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Karsa’s husband, Joseph, 81, was driving their 1991 BMW 325i

eastbound on the freeway in Sherman Oaks west of Kester Avenue at

about 1:10 p.m. when they were rear-ended by a 2003 Ford Expedition

after the driver of the SUV lost control of the vehicle, Officer

Richard Matthews said.

The man driving the SUV was traveling faster than the 30-mph

traffic flow on the freeway at the time of the collision, Matthews

said. The Karsas’ BMW traveled across several traffic lanes before

colliding with two other vehicles.

Joseph Karsa was pronounced dead at the scene by responding

paramedics. Gisele Karsa, 72, was transported to Sherman Oaks

Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Both died of multiple blunt

trauma injuries, said Marsha Grigsby, public services officer with

the Los Angeles Coroner’s Department.

The driver of the SUV was transported to L.A. County-USC Medical

Center with moderate injuries, Matthews said. A female passenger in

the SUV was ejected from the vehicle after it rolled over following

the impact, and was also treated at County-USC with moderate

injuries. The drivers of the other two vehicles involved in the

accident were treated for minor injuries and released at the scene.

Highway patrol investigators are still determining the cause of

the accident, Matthews said. No arrests have been made.

Gisele Karsa lived in Sherman Oaks, but she spent most of her time

at her Coldwell Banker office on Brand Boulevard, Coldwell Banker

receptionist Barbara van der Kolk said.

“She was here early, and here late. It was the movement of her

life,” said van der Kolk, who worked with Karsa for 15 years. “She

was just a wonderful lady.”

A mentor and training director at the Coldwell Banker office,

Karsa was very knowledgeable in the industry, Coldwell Banker

Glendale interim Manager Jacquie Rudell said.

“She was extremely involved, very active in the Glendale Assn. of

Realtors and very highly educated in her profession,” said Rudell.

She had known Karsa since 1989, when both worked at Dilbeck Realtors

in Glendale.

“She was a very supportive, loving person,” Rudell added.

Karsa had been in constant communication before her death with

Vivian Alcala, a former office partner at Coldwell Banker who now

works at Re/Max Tri-City.

“Gisele had been very supportive with me in my battle with breast

cancer,” Alcala said.

“She cared more about others than herself, and nothing held her

down; nothing stopped her,” Alcala said. “She was reliable,

considerate, generous and most of all, a great listener.”

Karsa was a member of the Glendale Assn. of Realtors since 1977

and served the association in numerous capacities. She had been

chairwoman of the association’s Professional Standards Committee at

the time of her death, and had been a director of the association’s

board for 12 years.

In 1990, she joined the Women’s Council of Realtors and served as

president in 1995 and 2003.

Gisele and Joseph Karsa leave behind a daughter, Agnes Huff of

Playa Del Rey, son-in-law Richard Huff and a 23-year-old

granddaughter.

Coldwell Banker Glendale will hold a memorial for the Karsas at

3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24 at the company office, located at 620 N.

Brand Blvd. on the second floor. Family members are asking that in

lieu of flowers, donations in the name of the Karsas be sent to the

Glendale Humane Society, one of Gisele’s favorite charities.