Joy Karp (1949 – 2017)

Joy Karp was born in Ottawa to parents Herman and Zelda Roodman. She attended Carleton University. She and Rick Karp were married in 1968 and they arrived in Whitehorse in 1970. They opened in the first McDonalds’ north of 60 in 1986 and the schools no longer had to fly in Big Macs from Fort St. Johns for fundraising events. The opening day sales set a Canadian record that held for some years, and they remained no. 1 in Canada for four months. They won an award for being in the top three restaurants of the 1,500 existing in Canada at the time. Joy developed a training program that eventually went global. After Rick and Joy retired, they opened the Hair Sensations business. Joy was instrumental in bringing the Special Olympics to Whitehorse. She arranged an outdoor play area for the Child Development Centre and arranged for their first training computers. She found funding to help make the Canada Games centre wheelchair accessible. Despite severe health problems, Joy Karp worked hard to help others.¹⁾