John "Jack" G. Kutzler

Jack would fondly recall his mother taking him on the train to Wrigley Field as a small child, instilling in him the love of his favorite team. He was the eldest of three children born to John and Lempy Kutzler on July 17, 1930. After graduating from Waukegan Township High School in 1948, he married Marilyn Rowe on January 26, 1952, and together they celebrated 70 years of marriage prior to her death in 2022. Their love for each other was outshone only by the love they had for their ten children – five boys and five girls, all names starting with an ‘M’ or a ‘J’ like their own. After high school, Jack started Kutzler Painting and Floor Sanding with his father, then eventually went on to retire in 1995 from Great Lakes civil service as a painter there for 21 years.

Jack is survived by three of his sons and all five of his daughters – Mary (Tim) Esser of Kenosha, Julie (Kent) Thomas of McHenry, Jack (Lydia) of Lago Vista TX, Jan (Jim) Warner of Cape Coral FL, Martin of Greenville SC, Jerry (Penny) of Kenosha, Margie (Jim) Burba of Beach Park IL, and Jill Jensen of Jefferson City MO, his sister Lynn (Harv) Larson of Sun City AZ, along with more than 60 grandchildren and great grandchildren who will miss their Papa Jack.

He was preceded in death by wife Marilyn, his parents John and Lempy, his in-laws Harold and Luella Rowe, sons Jeff and Mark, sister Arlene Kirn, granddaughter Summer Thomas, brother-in-law Richard Rowe, and daughter-in-Law Carrie Kutzler.

Visitation for Jack will be held at Marsh Funeral Home, 305 N. Cemetery Road, Gurnee, IL, on Wednesday, July 15 at 10 a.m., followed immediately by a funeral service at 11 a.m. and burial in Northshore Garden of Memories, where Jack will join Marilyn once again for a long-awaited round of Hand and Foot, their favorite card game