Full of life and love right until the very end with never a mean bone in her body, wife, mom, grandma, and great-grandma extraordinaire and baker of all things delicious, Anna (“Ann”) Theresa Kurth of Richfield passed away peacefully at the age of 93 on May 5.
Born on the Fourth of July 1932 to Alois and Evangeline Castenholz, Anna grew up on a dairy farm at the corner of Lilly Road and Appleton Avenue in what was then known as Fussville, now Menomonee Falls.
A 1950 graduate of Menomonee Falls High School, Anna worked for the Veterans Administration and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance. It was through a fateful trip to Fable’s Bar in Wausau set up by mutual friends, that she met the love of her life, Edwin George Kurth.
Anna married Ed on October 12, 1957, eventually moving into a small, but joyous house on Colonial Drive in Germantown. There, they raised four children Alan (Amy Beth), Lori (John) Boetcher, Mary Beth (Bill) Miller and Don (Lyn). Anna and Ed were married happily for close to 51 years before his passing in 2008.
She loved her family unconditionally and was most proud of the fact that all four of her children were college graduates, all of whom pursued substantial and impactful professional careers. Anna was hopeful, thoughtful and indulged her children in all their endeavors, even the occasionally noisy musical ones.
Their friends also never left hungry when they came over as Anna indulged them with mountains of goodies, including butter horns, pan pizzas and of course, her much desired chocolate peanut butter balls.
Anna loved gardening, baking, and was also an excellent seamstress. Quick to laugh, she enjoyed the holidays and music made her happy. She was a devout Catholic who taught Sunday School and served as a eucharistic minister at St. Mary’s Church in Menomonee Falls.
Later in life, after Ed retired, Anna had a most enjoyable return to the workplace in customer service at Smith and Nephew eventually retiring from there. After Ed’s passing, Anna spent most of her remaining years living with her daughter Lori’s family where she shared much wisdom and grace. She is also preceded by her two brothers Henry and Alois Jr. and her still much loved and missed great-granddaughter Honora Goldbach.
Survivors include her children and their spouses as well as grandchildren Danielle (Drew) Goldbach (great-grandsons Rory and Arlo), Donovan (Katie) Boetcher, Dr. Angela Kurth, Gregory Kurth, Holly Kurth (great-granddaughter Kennedy), Andrea (Noah) Brusky, Sam Miller, Liam Kurth and Lola Kurth. Also missing her greatly are dear friends of the family, Steve Tietz and Cathy Markwiese.
The family would like to thank the staff at Heritage Court Memory Care for their commitment and years of excellent care.
Services will be held at Schmidt and Bartelt Funeral Home in Menomonee Falls on Tuesday, May 12. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m. with a service at 6 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Alzheimer's Association.
Anna was a joy to be around, generous and kind in a world that could use a lot more of those qualities. She will be missed tremendously by all those who knew and loved her!
