Barbara Kurz

Barbara Maria Kurz was born the second youngest of 9 children on the 12th of September 1938 in Hirschau, Germany near Lake Chiemsee in the State of Bavaria. She was the daughter of Elisabeth and Josef Kurz along with six sisters and two brothers.

She went to school in Grabenstaett and started her career in a knitting mill.  In 1957, she followed her sister Berta and emigrated to the Unites States of America. She intended to stay only for a few years but remained there until her death in 2023.

She first worked as a housemaid in New York City. Her host was working in a bank and gave her the advice to complete a course in English and helped her to get a job at Williamsburg Savings Bank. She lived in Brooklyn and began volunteering in support of the poor and homeless.  This call to serve others would remain with her throughout her life.

At Williamsburg Savings Bank she worked as an Administrative Professional and later met her partner in life, Frank Murphy.  After several career changes Barbara and Frank moved to Wilmington, Delaware to work for MBNA America.  The lived in Wilmington for several years and eventually moved to Camden, Maine as part of MBNA’s expansion into New England.

Together in Maine, in a beautiful house on Chestnut Street overlooking Camden Harbor, they found immense joy and happiness.  Their lives in Camden were a cheerful version of a Norman Rockwell painting as they collected antiques, refinished furniture, and tended to their award-winning gardens.  They were fixtures in their local community as Barbara collected donations and served meals at the Camden Food Pantry.  Barbara was an earlier riser and would walk 4-6 miles per day.  She would make daily trips into town to visit with local shop keepers and buy provisions for the day.

When Frank’s health began to deteriorate in 2017, they made the difficult decision to leave their beloved Camden and move to Maris Grove in Glenn Mills, PA to be closer to family.  Barbara lost Frank in February of 2018 and lived for the next five years on her own in the retirement community.

Barbara was predeceased by all of her siblings, her youngest brother Ludwig passing in 2021 and sister Rosa in 2020.

Barbara passed away on Tuesday, April 11^th with Tommy Abel (Nephew) and Corinne Murphy (Niece) by her side.  Throughout the day, she was visited by many of Frank’s family to comfort and pray with her.  The week prior to her death, her Godson and Nephew, Rudolf Rahn, had visited her from Germany.  She left this world as gently and peacefully as she had lived in it.  Her faith was strong and her family is comforted knowing that she is reunited with her siblings and life partner, Frank Murphy.

A mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 12pm at Sacred Heart Oratory in Wilmington.  There will be a short visitation prior to the service at 11am.  Interment will be in July with her family in Germany.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the Ministry of Caring to ensure Barbara’s acts of charity and compassion continue.