Kurt grew up in Jackson, Calif., where he came to love the outdoors. As a boy, he roamed the foothills, hunting and fishing, and observing the natural world. He carried this love of nature into adulthood. 

He left Jackson for Alaska on graduating from high school, then settled in northern Minnesota, where he worked for Marvin Windows and continued to enjoy the outdoors, and where he met and married Jill Myrhum, the love of his life. 

Recently, they moved to Burns, where they made their home in the middle of forty acres of high desert, surrounded by sagebrush, wildflowers, birdsong, and kind neighbors. Kurt and Jill enjoyed visiting preserves of natural beauty, including Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park in California, and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon. Kurt was especially interested in geology, and collected rocks, minerals, and fossils. He chose to live simply and with integrity, respecting the land and its creatures. 

He is survived by his wife, Jill; his father, Gary; his sister, Frances (Rand); his brother, Edward (Cathy); his nephews, John and Victor (Becca), all of California; his daughter, Gwenivere; and his stepchildren, Jordyn and Hunter, all of Minnesota.