Ed Kurtz

Ed Kurtz, age 88, a fifth generation Californian, passed away after a short battle with cancer at his home in Bozeman, Mont., on April 21, 2022. Born in St Helena, Calif., on July 27, 1933, and raised in Sacramento, Calif., Ed was the beloved son of Oliver and Marion Kurtz.

Ed graduated from C.K McClatchy High School in Sacramento in 1951. He went on to receive his Bachelors of Science in Entomology from the University of California Davis in 1956. Shortly after college, he married Myrna and had two daughters, Carol Kurtz (Stoffers) and Jill Reynolds. He often said he missed his PHD opportunity to have kids!

He began his career in Richmond, Calif.,, with Niagara Chemical/FMC. In 1971, Ed moved his family from Orinda to the Salinas Valley to become the manager of the vegetable seed precision planting system for FMC. Shortly after that, he became the Manager for FMC International, which took him overseas to the Middle East to develop international agricultural projects. Following over 20 years with FMC, he became the Director of Research for Basic Vegetable Products. In 1985, he set out on his own and established a successful agricultural consulting business for vegetable commodity groups and growers. He conducted research on pest and disease control for a number of crops and was actively involved in the IR-4 project to obtain governmental approval for pesticides and herbicides on minor crops. His success led him to lead the California Lettuce Research Board as CEO for 15 years. His research through the years was also published in the Journal of Entomology. Ed was an active participant in technical organizations, including the Entomological Society of America, the Weed Science Society of America and the California Weed Science Society, where he was president in 1989 and named an honorary member in 1992. He presented technical papers and talks to governmental agencies, conventions and civic groups on food safety and the development of pesticides. He was chairman of the editorial review committee for the first edition of "Principles of Weed Control in California" and directed the revision of the second edition. He was a co-author of a publication entitled "Diseases of Lettuce" and worked closely with Universities, University of California Ag Extension and the USDA. His family's long time association in California agriculture began with a ranch in the 1800's along the Sacramento River near Clarksburg.

Ed grew up in a bird hunting and fishing family and continued that love, particularly fly fishing, throughout his life. Hunting season took precedence over most everything with family gatherings and holidays scheduled around the hunt. Ed, his father, Oliver, and brother, Jim, were passionate about hunting and fishing. The Kurtz hunting and fishing genes are readily apparent with grandsons Sam, Kyle, nephew Eric Kurtz and great-nephew Ethan all following in the tradition. Daughter, Carol, even learned to fly fish in Alaska at one of his favorite spots! Upon retirement, he moved to Montana to pursue his passion for fly fishing.

Along with fishing, Ed enjoyed tennis, golf, photography and a good bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet. His daughter, Jill, and grandson, Kyle, follow in his footsteps with their love of tennis. His longtime companion through the 80's and 90's, Duayne Ostergard, encouraged him to volunteer for the ATT golf tournament in Pebble Beach, where he became the "Haberdasher" director for over 10 years. Ed was a 50 year member of the Masons of California and a member of Orinda Lodge #122. Inspired by his U.C. Berkeley graduate parents, he loved everything Cal and always wore his "Cal" hat. His favorite stories to tell were playing baseball in High School against the Folsom Prison team and playing in a jazz band on the American River. He also relished being a poet.

He would often be watching sports on TV, while listening to another game on the radio and reading a book at the same time. He enjoyed grafting different varietals onto his fruit trees. He loved black licorice, grilled peanut butter and bologna, tongue (yuck!) and liverwurst sandwiches. He liked to tease his daughters with a game of "52 card pick up" and would even play the "Barbie" board game as long as he could be Poindexter! He had a wonderful sense of humor and much to the chagrin of his daughters, called all waitresses "Babe." His sense of humor extended to his employees as well, where once they played the song "Take this job and Shove it" in his office, he had a good laugh with that! He spent time creating "Garlic" Games and even went so far as to patent his ""It's a Gift"!!

We are pretty sure he was the very last male in the 70's to finally grow his hair out from a flat top. Ed could "smell the rain" coming, had nicknames for his girls, Carol Bird and Lou Lou, and would whistle loud enough to send his daughters scurrying home at the sound no matter where they were! While working with Carol on agricultural projects they would often refer to each other as CDK and EAK for their initials, it was always fun to see folks faces in meetings when after knowing them both for years would actually put two and two together.

Ed loved to reminisce about Uncle Sah, Nana, Auntie Mable and Uncle Walt. The Napa home on Coombs and Division where his grandmother (Nana) and Mother were born held lifetime memories for him.

His passion was truly fly fishing. He was determined to beat cancer at 88 because he wanted to (of course!) fish to 95. The local Bozeman paper did a full page article on him fishing the Gallatin when he turned 80 years old. Lucky enough to fly fish at 88, even in the snow, he would catalog, count, measure and post all his rainbows. All conversations in his later years revolved around how many fish he caught that day. He even estimated he had caught and released over 5,000 in the last ten years.

He lived a full, rich, blessed life with many close friends, family and lots of travel around the world. He was conservative, humorous and very generous. He was fortunate in that after retirement he was able to spend as many days as he could on the rivers in Montana. His Carmel Valley Ranch center court buddies and his fishing friends who passed before him are all welcoming him home.

Ed is survived by his two daughters, Carol Kurtz (Bill Stoffers) and Jill Reynolds; grandchildren, Sam Stoffers, Kelly and Kyle Reynolds; great-granddaughter, Katie Rodriquez; step-grandchildren Hank, Joe and Abby Stoffers and Elizabeth Causey; nephew, Eric (Teresa) Kurtz (Ethan and Laura); sister in law, Arlene Kurtz; and wife, Patricia Hutchins. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Jim. Ed asked that any memorials be made to the Shriners Children's Hospital. He is interned at the Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.

Funeral Arrangements by Struve and Laporte Funeral Home. Online condolences to www.struveandlaporte.com.

Published in Salinas Valley Tribune · April 17, 2023