Eleanor Ruth Kurtz

Eleanor "Ellie" Ruth (Swartz) Kurtz
Born: February 26, 1933
Died: March 2, 2026
Age: 93

Eleanor was born and grew up on a family farm near McEwensville in central Pennsylvania. She was the fourth and final child of Raymond and Helen (Muffly) Swartz.
She graduated from Milton High School and met her husband-to-be, George W. Kurtz, while a student at Penn State. They married at the end of her junior year and his earning his PhD. His first job was in Chicago and so she enrolled and graduated from Elmhurst College in a nearby suburb. Ellie taught school for several years before the birth of their children. In later years she got a master's degree in library science at Wayne State University, after which she worked in various academic, public, and company libraries.

George and Ellie had three children: Stuart (Kim), Homewood, IL; Patricia (Bill) Donaldson, Pittsford; and Charles (Wendy), Corinth, TX. They also had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

George's job changes, company transfers, and retirement led too multiple moves and so they lived in suburban Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, also in Monroe, North Carolina, and Clearwater, Florida.

Post retirement George and Ellie bought a second-hand Airstream travel trailer and spent many happy summers traveling all around the U.S. and Canada, venturing as far north as Alaska and as far east as Newfoundland. George died in early 2021, the end of a marriage of 67 years.

Ellie moved to the Highlands in the spring of 2021. She served a term on the Highlands Advisory Council and especially enjoyed playing bridge.