Robert John Kurtz, 87, of Germantown, TN passed away on Thursday, August 4th, 2016. He was born in Lynbrook, New York, to the late Frederick and Elizabeth (Dempsey) Kurtz. He was educated at; St. Raymonds Catholic School in East Rockaway, New York, Massapequa public school, and graduated from New Hampton Preparatory for boys in June of 1946. He is a 1951 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He entered the U.S. Navy in November of 1951 and went through boot camp at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Bainbridge Maryland. He then entered the Navy OCS in Newport, Rhode Island in 1953. From there he went to the Navy Supply Corps School in Bayonne, New Jersey. He went on to serve on the U.S.S. Virgo (AKA “20”). He served on the Virgo during the Korean War and in May of 1956 he entered the reserve community. He retired from naval service in 1988 at the rank of Captain. In 1956, he also began his 32 year career with the Bell System in Boston, Massachusetts. He served in many assignments and in 1959 he met his wife Eileen (Kennelly) Kurtz. They married in 1960 and are the parents of Ann (Kurtz) Tornillo and Jeanne Kurtz. They also have two grandchildren, Robert and Ryan Tornillo. He was a class agent for his college class of 1951, keeping his fellow classmates updated via monthly newsletter of classmate’s lives and deaths. He loved music, especially music of the 1940’s including Glenn Miller. He enjoyed singing and was a member of the chorus at the Villages of Germantown. Besides his wife, children and grandchildren, he is survived by his sister, Mary Thelander and a brother, Richard Kurtz. Friends are cordially invited to gather and share remembrances of Mr. Kurtz on Wednesday, the 10th of August from five o’clock in the afternoon to seven o’clock in the evening at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Ave in Memphis, where the recitation of the Holy Rosary is to commence at seven o’clock. The Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, the 11th of August at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 8151 Poplar Ave in Germantown, at eleven thirty in the morning. The Rite of Committal is to follow, via an escorted cortege, at West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery in Memphis.
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