Stanley Morton Kurtz.
Stanley was a retired professor, physician, researcher, scientist
– Stanley Morton Kurtz, 96, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones, on Sept. 4, 2022. The cause of death was cerebrovascular disease. Stanley was a retired professor, physician, researcher, and scientist.
Stanley was born an only child in Philadelphia on May 11, 1926. At the close of World War II, having served in the Air Force with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Stanley took advantage of the GI Bill to pursue a Bachelor’s, a Master’s, and then a PhD in Anatomy, followed by an M.D. wherein he specialized as a pathologist. While teaching anatomy at the University of Alabama Medical Center, he became one of the nation’s leading experts in electron microscopy, an emerging and exciting field in research and medicine. With this notoriety, in 1965 he was offered a position at the pharmaceutical company Parke-Davis in Ann Arbor, MI, and was appointed Director of Toxicology in 1970. Here he not only fought to develop and bring to market numerous groundbreaking prescription drugs but was also extremely proud to have been instrumental in the passing of the national Clean Water Act of 1972. In 1976 he accepted a position teaching pathology at the University of South Carolina Medical School in Charleston, with additional duties as director of the Electron Microscopy Suite for the Veterans Administration Medical Center there. In 1985 he left Charleston for Dallas, TX, where he continued his service with the VA until his retirement in 1992. Over the arc of his prestigious career, Stanley published upwards of 60 scientific papers.
As profoundly and professionally accomplished as he was, Stanley had numerous and varied interests that he pursued with gusto throughout his life. He loved music with a passion, especially classical, and, with an audiophile’s impeccable ear and excellent taste, he enjoyed helping others discover their own love of music. He was also well known as a true Gadget Man who would spend hours figuring out how to “fix” things – a trait that came in handy when he and his first wife, Barbara, purchased a small, 5-acre “gentleman’s farm” in Michigan. Here they raised sheep and chickens, learning as they went along, and proudly nourished a large vegetable garden – quite a feat for a self-avowed “city boy.” This rural experience also instilled in him a love of all animals, and he had a special place in his heart for dogs; his beautiful Weimaraner, Fritz (a rescue), was his constant companion for many years. Extremely articulate, Stanley loved puns and limericks. Fishing was another of his passions, be it in freshwater or the sea; he taught his daughters to fish, and later in life he enjoyed several trips to Alaska with his son-in-law and grandson, bringing home dozens of pounds of Alaskan salmon. What did he do with it all? He cooked it, of course! He was an outstanding cook, specializing in meats of all kinds, whether grilled, BBQed or smoked. Speaking of trips, Alaska was not the only place he visited; once retired he traveled extensively with his second wife, Marcia, from Israel to Mexico and more.
Stanley is survived by his wife, Marcia Pozez Kurtz of Fort Worth, TX; two stepdaughters, Toni Dorfman of New Haven, CT, and Patricia Dorfman of Queens, NY; two daughters, Abigail Migala of San Diego, CA, and Tamar Bourne of Paso Robles, CA; and grandchildren Eliza Valk, Rachel Riley-Nunn, Sofia Migala, Sunny Bourne Mayfield, and Dixon Bourne. He was preceded in death by his stepson, William David Dorfman, and his first wife, Barbara Riley Kurtz. If you are so moved to recognize the life of this extraordinary man, he would have wished that you donate to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
Stanley’s family wishes to thank the Central Coast Home Health & Hospice team for their excellent end-of-life care, as well as Dennis, Stanley’s outstanding and devoted caretaker, Stanley’s amazing nurse Nancy Murphy, and, of course, his beloved Dr. Jeffrey Bourne.
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