Thomas Earl Kurth passed into the hands of our Lord and Savior on Monday, January 29, 2024. Tom was born on March 15, 1948, in Waterloo, Iowa, in Black Hawk County, and was the second of five children to Robert and Margaret Kurth.
In 1973, Thomas Kurth married Paula Louise Nabors. Tom is survived by his loving wife Paula and his two sons, Daniel Michael Kurth and Jeffrey Thomas Kurth. Tom was especially fond of his two grandsons, Jakeb Kurth, Daniel’s son, and Jordan Kurth, Jeffrey’s son. In addition, Tom is survived by his sister, Betty Steck, and his three brothers, John Kurth, Charles Kurth, and James Kurth.
Tom spent his early years in school at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where his father was a flight surgeon serving as a Full Bird Colonel in the United States Air Force. Tom quickly learned English and German in his worldly travels during his younger years, eventually moving back to the States and settling in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, Texas, and would eventually graduate from Creighton University in Omaha, NE, where he majored in History. Tom decided to continue his education with a focus on studying law and received his Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He rose quickly in his law firm at Haynes and Boone Law, leading their Oil and Gas litigation practice, along with trying cases in various industries, and being recognized for many years as one of the top lawyers in the State of Texas and across the country. He continued with his distinguished career and practiced corporate law for 50 years.
Tom was active in many organized sports and was an outstanding softball player with his law firm. He was also an avid sailor and a member of the Rush Creek Yacht Club, where he sailed his 26-foot-long S2 cabin cruiser. He was heavily involved in the Exchange Club at his son’s high school and was a gifted photographer, taking pictures from the sidelines of the varsity football games for many years and sharing them with the players, students, faculty, and coaches. Tom’s biggest passion was horses and living the Cowboy way of life, riding the Colorado Trail on his stallion Maurader with a group led by Michael Martin Murphy, the famous Cowboy poet and songwriter. He was also an avid fisherman and upland bird hunter with his prized English Setters, Dudley and Winston.
Most of all, Tom Kurth loved his God, his family, his hunting dogs, and his horses. He led an active life till just before his death from complications of lung disease.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Thomas Earl Kurth can be made to the McKinney Sunrise Rotary Foundation in Memoriam Fund or to EquusFoundation.org, a charity foundation for performance horses.
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