Virginia Louise Kurtz, 77, died on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

She was born on Nov. 2, 1945, the daughter to Margaret (Powers) Komstock and Peter Komstock. She married Calvin “Jim” Kurtz in 1968.

In the mid-1970s, Virginia went back to school to pursue a college degree. She said her grandmother, Catherine Powers, strongly encouraged her to do so when she expressed an interest in that. She often said that her grandmother was a strong supporter of hers and she credited her with the fact that she went back to school in her 20s and 30s. She earned an associate degree from Butler County Community College in 1976 and a Bachelor of Arts from LaRoche University in 1981.

Virginia worked in the Pennsylvania State Welfare office for a number of decades. She also volunteered with the Butler Chapter of Compassionate Friends, which help people deal with grief and loss. Being a very staunch liberal and Democrat, she went to pro-ERA rallies in Washington, D.C., and was a supporter of equal rights and abortion rights. "Who are these people to take rights away from others" she would say (she actually used more colorful language than that, but people who knew her can accurately guess what she would have said). For years, she would donate to the Action Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). She always had an updated copy of the Hate Map from the SPLC to show where active Hate Groups were located in the country. She always wanted to send copies of the map to certain people but felt they would not understand why they were getting it, so she abstained from that.

Virginia was a rather unorthodox individual. She took up a stained glass hobby in the 1970s, loved buying antiques, had an absolute love of cashmere sweaters and turtlenecks and loved collecting bunny rabbits. She was a practicing vegetarian for decades, but her love of bacon eventually won out. She did enjoy cooking, loved making homemade soup and was a huge fan of Ina Garten (she made her Salted Pistachio Meringues, which she felt were "to die for").

Virginia was definitely very political and had no problem expressing her views. She also had her flaws and faults as well. She was not perfect and made mistakes with others and herself. Some mistakes she regretted and some she did not recognize. She was human like all of us.

KURTZ — Virginia Louise Kurtz, who died Thursday, May 11, 2023, was cremated, and her ashes have been spread in places she loved and enjoyed going to.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in her name to a library for more books, money or food to a food bank, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, any forward thinking, liberal, democratic cause, or to any LGBTQ organization.

Virginia wouldn't want you to say "goodbye" or "good night." She would want you to say, "So long." So long, Virginia, and thanks.

Please sign the guest book at www.butlereagle.com.