Anita Kurtz-Magee Obituary

Born in Jersey City, NJ in 1937, Anita was the second daughter of Matthew and Annina (Schmidt) Greinwald. Anita's parents immigrated to the United States from Germany in the early 1920's and Anita was very proud to have been the first member of her family born in America. In 1957 Anita married John Kurtz and was widowed 20 years later. During that time son Eric John was born in 1960 and daughter Nina Leigh followed in 1962. Anita attended Kean University in NJ and graduated from Thomas Edison University with a BA and two NJ certifications: Teacher of Reading and Teacher of the Handicapped. She held the position of Learning Disabilities Therapist for Dyslexic Children/Reading Specialist for the next 34 years at The Wilson School and The Craig School in Mountain Lakes, NJ. Anita married Leslie Benjamin Magee in 1983 and was widowed five years later.

During her time in NJ, Anita made voluntarism an important part of her life. She was a First Responder with the New Vernon, NJ First Aid Squad, weekly manned the hot line emergency nighttime calling system at the NJ Battered Women's Shelter and was a Deacon at the First Presbyterian Church of New Vernon. In 2000 Anita made the decision to retire from teaching and to move to Missoula, Montana to be closer to her family.

After moving to Missoula, Anita soon joined the Tuesday Hikers. She hiked, skied, or snowshoed with this amazing group every week for fifteen years. Highlights of that time included peaking Trapper Peak, Lolo Peak and Ch-paa-qn. Sadly, an orthopedic medical mistake to her right leg ended her hiking passion. She continued her volunteering and was a co-president of the Missoula Symphony Guild, a CASA, a docent at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture and she conducted tours of the outdoor art on the University of Montana campus for the MOLLI program. With a loyal group of eight great friends, Anita helped organize The Crazy Eight's whose purpose was to engage the Missoula Symphony Scholarship students in events such as dinners after symphony concerts, birthday celebrations, recital attendance – all for fun and support of the students. She was an ardent Griz fan and an active member of the United Church of Christ in Missoula.

Anita is survived by her son, Eric, of Florence, Montana; her daughter, Nina, son-in-law Michael, grandsons Anders and Hans all of Oakland, CA; Linda (Magee) Valentino and family of Falls Church, VA; Karen Magee and Aimee Levine of La Jolla, CA: as well as Brittney Grieves and family of Rockaway, NJ.

In 2011, Anita was diagnosed with CLL (chronic lymphatic leukemia). The family extends their heartfelt gratitude for the care extended by the Western Montana Clinic especially Dr. Sally Scott, Mary Schick, NP, and Dr. Lisa Lovejoy.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the United Church of Christ (UCC), 405 University Avenue, Missoula, 59801; or Doctors Without Borders, 40 Rector Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10006-1751, Harding Township Volunteer First Aid Squad, Harding Township, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920-5503