Chicago Coffee Expert Crushed to Death by Falling Coffee Machine
Jim Karr, a Chicago coffee expert who worked at Intelligenstia Coffee and later founded a coffee start-up, died Saturday afternoon after the large coffee machine he was setting up fell on top of him.
Jim Karr was setting up a large coffee machine in the 300 block of East Jackson Drive in Grant Park when he lost his balance about 4:25 p.m., police said. Karr grabbed the machine to steady himself, but it fell on top of him.
Karr, of the 1900 block of West Henderson Street, was injured in his head and chest and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:56 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
Karr, 48, was a respected member of the Chicago's coffee community. He worked for several years as the director of brewing technology at Intelligenstia Coffee in Chicago; in August 2012, he left Intelligenstia to found SteamVolt, "a progressive technical service agent offering a new approach and methods to the unique and nuanced needs of the craft coffee industry."
Dark Matter Coffee, which announced the death on their Facebook page, described Karr as "an inspiration."
He believed in and supported our views on business and coffee and constantly ideated with me new ways for us to do both better. Jim will be missed dearly, but his work will be forever be lived out by the people he has touched in life.
