Earl Jeremy Kuntz

Earl was born on Sunday, July 21, 1929, to Solomon and Gizella (Beitscher) Kuntz in Chicago,

Illinois. Solomon came to Chicago from Chocholow, Poland, on August 17, 1907. At this time,

most of Poland was connected to Germany and Austria-Hungary, so Solomon spoke many

languages including German, Hungarian, English, Spanish, French and Hebrew. His affinity for

language became helpful when he met Gizella—born in Budapest, Hungary—and they began

their Chicago Foreign Newspapers business to connect immigrant communities around the city.

The business evolved and expanded over time, and after Gizella passed, Earl was tasked with

taking on the family telecommunications business. This kickstarted his career in selling phone

systems and providing answering services at General Telecommunications, later referred to by

its more recognizable portmanteau, Gentel. He met his wife Mary (Kohls) Kuntz at work after

Solomon hired her and pushed them together in old-world yenta fashion. They both were very

involved in their own businesses when they met and dated for many years. They were married

on July 28, 1957.

Earl and Mary ran the business together with their children, and Earl made his work his life. He

took great pride in it and said work was the one thing that “pushed all of [his] buttons.” Even in

his last few days, he was still asking, “How are things at the office?” After Mary passed in 1996

and a portion of the business was sold, he continued running the business with the help of his

daughter, Karen (Kuntz) Sus.

Though he never retired, Earl spent his later years dancing the night away with his loving and

supportive partner, Gloria Fosseick. His longevity deserves to be celebrated and can be

accredited to Gloria quite literally keeping him young. Earl and Gloria met while grieving the loss

of their respective spouses and knew each other for 27 years. She captured Earl at his funniest,

always in the middle of some joke.

Earl was a wise storyteller and did his best to keep family history alive. When it was discovered

that his uncles Shulim and Henryk Kuntz perished in Auschwitz during the Holocaust, he

mentioned that his father never spoke much about his family and life in the “old country.” This

gave our family all the more reason to discuss how being descended from Holocaust victims

shaped our relationship to Judaism, to each other and to the world.

Earl was predeceased by his father Solomon and mother Gizella, his wife Mary and his brother

Richard Kuntz. He is survived by his partner Gloria, his daughter Karen, his son Bradford Kuntz,

his son-in-law Thomas Sus and his three grandchildren: Anine Sus, Jeremy Sus and Hudson

Kuntz.

Services will be held at Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home at 111 Skokie Boulevard in Wilmette,

Illinois, on Friday, November 24, 2023, at 2:30 p.m.