Tom Kurth’s life celebrated at Elkhart High School
by Steve Krah
Family and friends gathered Sunday, Aug. 8 to celebrate the life of Tom Kurth.
Almost 55 years to the day after he arrived in the City With A Heart, they came together at Elkhart High School’s Kurth Athletic Complex at Rice Field. The Hall of Famer passed away Aug. 4 at 85.
Men who competed for or coached alongside Kurth on the football field or track spoke about the man who touched so many lives through athletics and education.
In addition to coaching, he was a driver’s ed teacher for over 50 years. Many will say “if he wasn’t your coach he taught you how to drive.”
Kurth, a graduate of Hobart (Ind.) High School and Wittenberg University (Springfield, Ohio), was an assistant football coach at Griffith (Ind.) High School (1958-1959) and Panthers head coach (1959-1965) before serving as head coach at Elkhart/Elkhart Central (1966-2001).
In 44 football seasons, his record was 278-140-5 with mythical state championship teams in 1968 (United Press International) and 1970 (Associated Press and UPI).
Three of Kurth’s teams enjoyed undefeated seasons (Griffith in1963, Elkhart in 1968, and 1970). He led 10 conference champions – four in Griffith and six in Elkhart. Eleven teams were ranked in the Top 10 at end of the season; 22 teams were ranked in the Top 20.
He produced 89 All-State players and 97 received full college scholarships.
Kurth was head coach of North in the Indiana Football Coaches North-South All-Star Game in 1993 — three years after going into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
A 2001 inductee into the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches, Kurth was the head boys track coach for 19 years with a state title in 1993 and a state runner-up finish in 1996.
His Blue Blazers — “Once A Blazer, Always A Blazer” — earned nine sectional, nine conference, and four regional championships. His track record was 177-26.
He is also in the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame.
Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson presented the Key to the City, accepted by Kurth’s oldest daughter, Kristie Stutsman Sunday. Tom and Barb Kurth were married 63 years (she died in Dec. 3, 2020). Besides Kristie (Steve), they were parents to son Frank Kurth (Denise), daughter Karen Hunter (Bill) with four surviving grandchildren. Roberson, who played football at Elkhart Central (Class of 1977) and Northwestern University, read the key inscription: “Coach, you brought your best. You changed our lives. You strengthened our families, you define the heart of Elkhart.”
Tom Conn, a 1967 Elkhart graduate who played on Kurth’s first Blazer football squad, recalls how Coach “had a very special way of encouraging people, make them believe in themselves that they could do things.”
Many times, Conn witnessed Kurth apply the “Four and 40” principle.
“He taught you in four years and prepared you for the next 40 years and beyond in your life,” said Conn. “He helped hundreds of young people grow. And that’s what he’ll be remembered for — those kinds of things.”
Fred Lands, a 1967 EHS graduate who won the 2-mile state championship as a track senior, talked of Kurth as a motivator.
“That’s the man who can drive you,” said Lands. “He drove me made me what I am.”
Clyde Riley Jr. was one of many who were inspired by Kurth.
“You’re going to do great things,” said Riley of the words Kurth told Riley, who graduated from Elkhart High in 1969. “You have to work hard. So he got me engaged in that’s probably all he needed to do and I started doing that and I was went on to Ball State University where I lettered for three years and was captain of the football team. And to this day, there are only three athletes in the history of Ball State who participated in three varsity sports — Shafer Suggs, Tim Brown, and Clyde Riley.”
Riley was later a school administrator who worked with Kurth.
“They say the greatest among you shall be of service,” said Riley. “He served the community. He served the Elkhart Community Schools and he served mankind. “His legacy will live on.”
Suggs, a 1972 EHS graduate who went on to play for the National Football League’s New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals, Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes and the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals, counts himself among the many impacted by Kurth.
“Here’s a man who has dedicated his life to reaching into the soul of every person he met,” said Suggs. “So when you walked away from him you knew the importance of brotherhood — not just in sports but in life.”
Rich Wingo, a 1974 Elkhart Central graduate who played at the University of Alabama and for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, also paid tribute.
“Coach Kurt changed my life,” said Wingo. “And I have a feeling that those that are here tonight you’re here because Coach Kurth changed your life as well. His impact and his influence is forever. “Coach Kurth demanded a spirit of excellence, and he got it. He cared about how you dressed. He cared about how you carried yourself. He cared about how you treated people. He cared about how you studied how you prepared.”
Wingo played for gridiron legends Paul “Bear” Bryant, Bart Starr, and Forrest Gregg.
“But I can tell you from the bottom of my heart there’s been no greater coach that had any greater impact and Tom Kurth in my mind,” said Wingo. “He changed my life. He was the world’s greatest encourager.”
David Thomas, a 1979 Elkhart Central graduate who played quarterback for Kurth, called his coach a “renaissance man.”
“A renaissance man means the center of the universe, limitless in his capacities for development and led to the notion that men should try to embrace all knowledge and develop their own capacities as fully as possible, someone who gives his best effort in every endeavor,” said Thomas. “Well, even the name Kurth — and I looked it up — means refined and accomplished.”
Levon Johnson, a 1988 Elkhart Central graduate who later was Blazers head football coach and is now president and CEO of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, reached out to the Kurth offspring. “You shared your dad with us in ways that are absolutely unbelievable,” said Johnson. “This family has sacrificed time with their father. But they knew what his mission was.
Johnson said Coach Kurth was always talking about turning a negative into a positive.
“Although I don’t say it that exact same way all the time, hundreds of people have heard me say there’s always opportunities in the challenges,” said Johnson. “And that’s what Coach was saying. Every challenge that we face, there’s an opportunity there.
“The only way to look at life through Coach Kurth’s eyes is to promote a positive perspective. I can’t thank him enough for that.”
Johnson said the greatest purpose of leadership is inspiring and developing future leaders.
“As I look into these stands, reflect on this community, and think about where coaches guys and gals are across this country, whether they are leading communities, businesses, teams, organizations, churches, in education, or most importantly to him, their families, his legacy of purpose has been fulfilled,” said Johnson. “Rest easy coach. Mission accomplished.”
Darrell Higgins, a 1997 Elkhart Central graduate, and former Blazer quarterback, talked about the sense of togetherness fostered by Kurth.
“We’re always taught to take care of each other, to look out for each other because that’s what’s important,” said Higgins. “He modeled that to us.
“As my wife and I have raised our daughters in this community, I know there are numerous Blazers that are watching out for my girls and taking care of them.”
Kurth set the bar high for Higgins and others.
“I want you to be a great man, a great member of the community,” said Higgins of Kurth’s words of encouragement. “I want you to be a great husband, a great father. He wanted us to be great like him.”
Frank Serge, who was an assistant on Kurth’s staff and then was his principal, emceed Sunday’s ceremony.
“We are all here for the same reason at some point in our life — Coach Tom Kurth — reached out and touched each and every one of us,” said Serge. “He helped make us the men and women that we are today.
“Tom you will live on in all of us.”
