Sheridan native Joseph D. Kurtz, 92, of Sequim, Wash., died Sunday, April 12, 2009, in Sequim.

A memorial service is 10 a.m. Thursday at Sequim Community Church.

Cremation has taken place and cremains will return to Sheridan. Local arrangements are with Champion Ferries Funeral Home.

Born Feb. 16, 1917, in Sheridan to Noah and Martha Kurtz, he graduated from Sheridan High School. He attended the University of Colorado, then the University of Wyoming as a pre-med student.

In the summer of 1938, working for the Yellowstone National Park post office, he met his future wife, Nyla Glenn.

World War II and his 1941 enlistment in the Army intervened in his education. After officer's school, he served as a captain from 1942 until Dec. 17, 1945, largely in the British West Indies, American Theater.

Following the war, he completed his pre-medical biochemistry degree at UW.

While fulfilling residency requirements for enrollment in the University of Washington School of Medicine, he was diverted into a career in brewing beer, beginning with Sick Century Brewing in Seattle.

He subsequently enrolled in the Siebel Institute of Technology, Chicago, where he received a degree in brewing technology. In 1950, he moved to Frankenmuth, Mich., as a brewer.

Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz spent 40 years traveling the country applying his skills in the brewing industry for a number of breweries including Rainier, Schlitz, and Carlings. He retired to Issaquah, Wash., in 1985 and to Sequim in 1990.

Mrs. Kurtz died in October 2001.

Mr. Kurtz met his second wife through the Sequim Community Church choir.

Survivors include his wife, Laura Kurtz; a son, Jonathan of Hawaii; a sister, Mary Jane Culver of Laguna Hills, Calif.; a brother, James Kurtz of Auburn, Wash.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The Sheridan Press - April 15, 2009