Kurzenbaums are missed
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Editor,
I was very moved and inspired by the Kurzenbaum family’s beautiful obituary for Jerry, who passed last Thursday. It expressed his extraordinary life. We were blessed to have known Jerry and Carolyn so well. They were people who truly lived large, but with unwavering grace and dignity.
Our history together was very special. We co-occupied the Polson office at 213 Main for many years. As you know, it’s now exclusively the productive home of Chip Kurzenbaum’s Gull Printing and Signs. But for many years, the Kurzenbaum and Mowbray family businesses shared the front door, front counters, display windows, parking spaces, a finicky furnace, erratic air conditioning and even a bathroom. We shared the horror of a flooding basement when the storm sewers were overwhelmed. We teamed up to manage a leaking furnace oil tank and its eventual removal.
Anyone with a family business knows that just as you take the business home with you at night, once in a while, home business is brought into the office. The Kurzenbaums patiently tolerated the Mowbray children traipsing in after school. They sympathized with me when one of the children was sick or injured.
You could always count on Jerry and Carolyn’s professionalism and discretion. No matter what the problem may have been, Carolyn’s beautiful smile or Jerry’s hilarious jokes would relieve the tension.
We shared all the stresses of growing our enterprises: the occasional cash-flow bind or the raw disappointment of a competitive setback. They had to witness the irate reader with an editorial complaint banging their newspaper on our counter. Like any small business, they didn’t always get paid for the job. They never let that affect their joy in taking pride in the work they did. Now Chip continues the legacy of his parents’ small-town care for his customers. He faces today’s challenges with the same willing spirit.
Jerry’s creativity was boundless, and his joy of life contagious. Both Jerry and Carolyn lived large, and that expansiveness began in their hearts, which they graciously shared with everyone around them.
Carmine Mowbray
Polson
