Mom was pre-deceased by her parents, Jesse and Thelma Cress, her husband, Andrew (Andy) Kurtz in 2011, and her eldest son, Kerry Kurtz in 2023. She is survived by her children Kevin Kurtz of Champion, AB; Larry (Diane) Kurtz of Castlegar, BC; Jesse (Corry) Kurtz of Lethbridge, AB; Brian (Cindy) Kurtz of Calgary, AB; and Diana (Lorne) Blakey of Medicine Hat, AB. She is also survived by close to 40 grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren. She had many friends and neighbours over the years but has outlived many of them.

Mom’s mother was Thelma (Atkins)Cress. Thelma came to Alberta from Arizona as a child in 1909 and became a teacher. Mom’s Dad was Jesse Cress. Jesse came from Ohio as a child in 1910. He grew up on the Cress farm but took a shine to repairing anything, which led him to being partner in a garage at New Dayton. It was the International Harvester Dealer. Eventually he became the sole owner. Thelma and Jesse were wed in 1925 and started a family with Mom’s sister Vera in 1927, brother Richard Lee in 1929 and Mom (Lois) in 1930. Mom grew up as a child in New Dayton. Her education started in New Dayton then Calgary and spent a wayward teenage year in California with Aunt Edna. When she came back home, she went to work for her dad at the garage in New Dayton. Both sets of her grandparents farmed in the area, and she learned many aspects of farming including milking cows and butchering chickens. That is on top of growing giant gardens, baking, cooking, sewing, and creating. She learned how to hold and use many tools and was quite the handywoman! She also considered herself a bit of a tomboy not afraid to climb trees or jump off a cliff!

Dad (Andy Kurtz) came to New Dayton in the fall of 1946. He worked a variety of jobs but the one which changed everything was when he took a job working at the garage for Grandpa Cress (Mom’s Dad). That is where Mom met Andy. Mom & Dad (Andy Kurtz) were married on January 7th, 1951. Mom was the tender age of 20 and Dad 18. Together they raised 6 children in various communities. Moving to the Lethbridge area in 1952, then back to New Dayton in late 1953. An opportunity came along that saw them move to Milk River where dad worked in a garage and became a licensed mechanic. Seven years later in 1961 they moved back to the Cress farm southeast of New Dayton where Dad worked for Grandpa as a farm hand.

Mom was a full-time mother to six children but still had time for other activities. She became a Cub Leader at New Dayton and the whole family got involved in the Scouting movement. In 1968 they moved to Stettler and then in 1972 moved to Cranbrook where they resided for 20 years. Mom worked various jobs over the years including at a chicken hatchery, managing a jewelry store, sewing for people she met, and decorating cakes. Her specialty was decorating wedding cakes! She was very talented at whatever she attempted. Mom was always proud of being able to find a use for almost anything and thus hated throwing something out if it could be used for something else. Mom was also famous for making homemade egg noodles of all kinds and often made them for friends and family. Mom

always loved kids and could be seen dressing up with great grandkids wearing reindeer horns or a clown nose or pom poms on her head!

When Dad retired from heavy duty mechanic work, they sold the house in Cranbrook and went on the road in a fifth wheel trailer becoming Snowbirds to Arizona for one winter. With Dad’s health they decided travelling south was not good any longer and around 1994 they settled at the Fort Victoria RV Park in Victoria, BC, where Mom spent the next 20 years. Dad passed away in 2011. This left Mom alone in Victoria for four years. In 2015, Mom made the difficult decision to leave Victoria and move to a senior’s home in Lethbridge, Ab. Mom spent the better part of 10 years at Garden View Lodge until her passing. In the first 5 years she frequently completed puzzles, enjoyed Happy Hour weekly, played crib, and watched movies. She also enjoyed going to family birthdays and dinners. Covid happened in 2020, and Mom turned 90 and that was the start of her isolation and decline from heart issues. It also affected her memory and decision making because of mild dementia. She was still able to hold a conversation up until the day before she passed. She rarely forgot who any of us were, but acquaintances were easily forgotten. Thus, the loss of long-time friends was difficult and lonely for her. She was always loved and appreciated most of the people she met. Mom was honest to a fault and disliked people who played mind games and were less than honest. She was very generous but believed in people working for what they got. In her last days, she expressed gratitude for Garden View Lodge and the staff there. We had many staff members tell us how much they appreciated and liked her.

Mom was Christened into the United Church of Canada as an infant. She attended church regularly in Esquimalt, BC. but had not fully committed to following Jesus until 2016. Her big decision came on April 3, 2016, when she accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into her life through immersive baptism and came to know that baptism was one of the ways to show the world what she believed.

Mom attended the Central Church of Christ - Lethbridge as long as her health allowed, but Covid interrupted that. Mom lost her ability to read and process what she was reading, but she never lost her faith and loved to hear scripture and to pray with her family. The last scripture passage she listened to, was the 23rd Psalm.

We will miss her dearly, but we know she has gone on to her reward in heaven.

A family celebration of life will be held at a later date.