Vincent "Vinny" Kurtz

Kurtz, Vincent R. “Vinny”, 21, of Union, passed away Monday August 29, 2016 at Lutheran Hospital in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, from injuries sustained when his bicycle was struck by a car in Marion, Indiana, near the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), where he was an upcoming senior. Vinny was born January 30, 1995 in Dayton to Linda Sue (Tuttle) and Greg Michael Kurtz. Vinny cultivated a love of the great outdoors at a young age. As a little boy, he loved archeology. His parents bought him a shovel, and holes began to appear all over the yard. Yard sports with his siblings and friends often resulted in someone's foot finding a hole. Eventually, Vinny was given a very specific area to dig and the holes got bigger and deeper, deep enough for kids to add water and get in ruining a school uniform or two. There is a tree in the Kurtz' yard called "Vinny's tree" that he would often climb and sit in with binoculars and a book. In recent years, Vinny developed an interest in gardening. His "organic" garden was beset by pests, but has produced some delicious tomatoes. Quite a movie aficionado, Vinny had many movie dialogues memorized. He could carry on entire conversations with movie quotes and often asked, "what's that from?" If you didn't know, he followed with an obscure clue like "Pixar 1988." Lion King was a sentimental favorite. Most recently, Vinny was involved with a field study of birds at IWU. Building the bird feeders began an interest in woodworking and power tools. Studying the birds ignited an interest to pursue a Masters in Restoration Ecology to repair ecosystems destroyed by things like wildfires and hurricanes. College also motivated a love of cooking to add to Vinny's eclectic array of interests. Recently, he told his sister he was staying in to work on his sauces. Always a generous, lover of life, Vinny was a regular blood donor. In his final act, Vinny enhanced life through organ donation. "When there is an organ donor, life springs from death, sorrow turns to hope and terrible loss becomes a gift."-UNOS Vinny is survived by his parents, Greg and Linda Kurtz of Union, brothers Alex (Cherilyn) Kurtz of Marion, Indiana and their daughter Iris; Linden Kurtz of Dayton; sister Ellen Bokisa (Chuck) of Centerville and their children, Charlie and Jackson; maternal grandmother, Pat “GP” Eller (Jim “PJ”) of Englewood; and paternal grandparents, Dale & Carol Kurtz of Dayton. Friends and family are invited to a life celebration visitation on Sunday, September 4th from 3-8 pm at Christian Life Center, 3489 Little York Rd., Dayton. Life celebration services continue at 10:00 am Monday. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Vinny Kurtz Memorial Scholarship Fund for a rising senior in the IWU Science Dept. To donate online, go to https://gateway.frontrunnerpro.com/book-of-memories/2696593/Kurtz-Vincent/donation.php. Make sure to include “gift accounting/Kurtz” in the “Notes to the charity” section of the online form or the memo line of the check when donating via mail at Indiana Wesleyan University, 4201 S. Washington St., Marion, Indiana 46953. You may also send a condolence to the family or plant a tree in memory of Vinny at www.ConnerAndKoch.com by clicking on his name. Copyright Notice © 2016 (Conner & Koch Life Celebration Home) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This obituary is a work protected under international and federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reproduction, distribution or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this compiled work may be reproduced, altered or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. The author hereby grants the newspaper the right to publish the complied work on the dates and location provided in the submission details and further grants to the newspaper the right to reproduce the work electronically in any website or digital medium owned or controlled by the newspaper provided the copy is not altered or modified in any way. The funeral home's website domain must accompany any reproduction of the work. The work must not be used for or by any person for direct commercialized gain in competition with the author, the funeral home, or their respective businesses. Privacy Disclaimer The information contained in this Book of Memories is intended solely for the private use of the families and friends of the deceased to support each other and honour, respect and pay tribute to the memory of the deceased. Any and all other use is strictly prohibited. Without limiting the foregoing, any reproduction, distribution of the information contained herein, nor any contact or solicitation of any person identified in this work, nor any attempt to use the information in the work is prohibited.

Vincent "Vinny" Kurtz

January 30, 1995 - August 29, 2016