Obituary of Muriel Kurtz

Muriel Tarr Kurtz, author and champion of her family, John, and their children, Lesley, Shelley, John and Halley, died Thursday, January 30th.Muriel recycled before anyone and packed such nutritious lunches for her children, the sandwiches were rendered untradeable in the elementary school cafeteria. She adored John (“Handsome Harry”), loved being a Stanford Indian, a Presbyterian and a Republican- but happily crossed party lines to indulge in her obsession with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Following the publication of her books, Prepare Our Hearts and Return Another Way, her desk bulged with research for the series she planned to complete. Family traditions and celebrations were the constant themes in her life and in her work.Born and raised in Northern California to a small –business, entrepreneurial family, Muriel was the eldest of three. The curating of a beautiful home, garden and wardrobe, finessing just the right touch as a hostess and the value of a thoughtfully appointed life were the touchstones of her upbringing. Faith, travel, history and politics passed seamlessly from FW and Esther Reed Tarr to their children.John Kurtz met Muriel at a singles event at the First Methodist church in Sacramento. Within the next several years, she received a masters’ degree at Stanford, they married, traveled to Europe, Muriel taught in Boston while John got his Harvard MBA and they returned to Northern California to raise the four children who arrived promptly! Muriel balanced her energy as the linchpin of a bustling family and her aspirations as a writer. Volumes of her daily journals, notes and her admiration for the writer Erma Bombeck who artfully juggled family, humor and writing attest to her commitment to personal growth, her dreams and maintaining her autonomy in the midst of children, marriage and domesticity. Muriel’s individuality is an indelible accomplishment.Observant, witty and often opinionated, her background as a teacher and a life-long student surfaced constantly. A simple hike through the woods became a full-blown science lesson; a breakfast table gathering for John’s Saturday waffles staged the discussion of the finer points of the Reagan Administration. A coincidental remark led John and Muriel to teach for a year in Thailand. Her curiosity and love of a great conversation are the very cornerstones of her work as a keeper of the family fire and the holder of the traditions. From these, she crafted the blueprints for her books that embodied tradition, faith and the gathering of seasonal greens. She graciously adjusted her vision of a traditional family as her own expanded and contracted with life’s ongoing decisions. She embraced and celebrated the additions of Jim, Ron, Beth and Jay to the family table and had absolutely no idea how happy grandchildren would make her until Chelsey, MacKensey, Shelley, Kiley, Spencer and Cameron arrived.To honor Muriel, it is easy:Go for a nice long walk, say a quiet prayer, send a funny note to someone for no particular reason, and check a book out from the public library. Make a list of what you need to get accomplished today (legibility is optional), relocate a struggling houseplant to your kitchen window and make a batch of cookies from scratch for someone’s birthday. Wear your colors exclusively, set a beautiful table for the most humble of meals and mail your Christmas cards early. Cherish the simplest moments in any day. In essence, celebrate a life well-lived and well-loved.Join us at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Friday, February 7, 2014 at 2pm.In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the PEO Sisterhood educational fund at:OSC P.E.O. Sisterhood Charitable Trust, c/o Chapter AM PEO, 1133 Rio Glenn Drive Eugene, OR 97401orWestminster Presbyterian Church, 777 Coburg Rd, Eugene, OR 97401Arrangements entrusted to Musgrove Family Mortuary. Please access the obituary and you are invited to sign the guestbook at musgroves.com