Leu, Joyce Kurtz

Joyce Kurtz Leu, 63, of Marion, died Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. A visitation and prayer service will be held Thursday, Feb. 9, from 4 to 6 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marion. A visitation will be held at the Best Western Hotel in Joyce's hometown of Fairfield from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19. A memorial mass will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church in Fairfield at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 20.

Joyce was born July 12, 1948, in Fairfield, Iowa, the daughter of Paul Joseph and Lucille (Brereton) Kurtz. Following graduation from Fairfield High School in 1965, Joyce studied at the University of Northern Iowa. She married Richard Leu on June 15, 1968. Joyce worked as a long-distance telephone operator for a number of years. She earned her Associate of Applied Science degree from Ottumwa Heights College.

Joyce was parish secretary and administrator for St. Mary Catholic Church in Fairfield for four years before moving to Marionin 2004. She worked as a temporary administrative assistant at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids.

Joyce worked as a compliance specialist for a broker-dealer, a legal secretary for several attorneys and as an office manager and personal assistant for a psychiatrist. She received literacy training at Indian Hills Community College and served as an English-as-a-second language tutor for a number of years. She was a founding member of the Friends of the Fairfield Public Library and a volunteer in the Share Iowa program. She served as a liturgical leader in the Diocese of Davenport and a National Catholic Rural Life associate.

Joyce enjoyed participating in historical re-enactments at Ushers Ferry Historic Village and the Surveyors Historical Society. She served as a tour guide at the Carl and Mary Koehler History Center in Cedar Rapids. Joyce was an avid reader and seldom missed an episode of Jeopardy.

Survivors include her husband of 43 years, Richard; son, Benjamin (Kerri); grandchildren, Elizabeth and Kristen; mother, Lucille Kurtz; sisters, Judith Meikle (Clark), Susan Ross Miller (Ron) and Margaret Butler (Thomas); and brothers, Joseph Kurtz (Jane), Dennis Kurtz (Molly) and Glenn Kurtz.

She was preceded in death by her father, and a daughter, Elizabeth Jean.

The family thanks the doctors and staff at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa, Hospice of Mercy at Mercy Medical Center of Cedar Rapids and the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha for their support and care.

Donations may be directed to the family for the establishment of a memorial at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy.

Online condolences may be expressed at  under obituaries.

Published in The Gazette Feb. 6, 2012