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Maxine Kurtz

Maxine KurtzMaxine Kurtz, who became head of the Denver Planning Office in 1947 at age 23 and was the first woman to organize the planning department of a major American city, passed Nov. 4, 2008, in Aurora.

Rabbi Eliot Baskin officiated at the Nov. 12 memorial service at the Loup JCC. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.

In addition to her pioneering work in city planning, Miss Kurtz was a personnel executive, lawyer and an author.

She was born Oct. 17, 1921, in Minneapolis, Minn., to Jack Isadore and Beatrice Cohen Kurtz.

She earned a BA from the University of Minneapolis in 1942, an MS in government management from DU in 1945, her JD in 1962, and was a postdoctoral student at the University of California-San Diego in 1978.

From 1947-1966, Miss Kurtz was the chief of research and special projects for the Planning Office, City and County of Denver.

She was the director of tech and evaluation for the Model Cities program, 1966-1971; personnel research officer for the Denver Career Service Authority, 1972-1986; and director of personnel services, 1986-1988.

She served on the Active Woman’s Forum of Colorado and the advisory committee to the US Civil Rights Commission.

Miss Kurtz, who passed the Colorado bar in 1962, was an expert witness for the national commission on urban problems, US House of Representatives.

She authored Invisible Cage, A Memoir in 2005 and City of Destiny: Denver in the Making in 2008. The books chronicled her experiences in human rights and city planning.

She also wrote Law of Planning and Land Use Regulations in Colorado and co-authored Care and Feeding of Witnesses, Expert and Otherwise.

Miss Kurtz received numerous honors during her career including the outstanding achievement and alumni of notable achievement awards from the University of Minneapolis.

She belonged to the American Institute of Planners and several other professional organizations.

Miss Kurtz never married.

Contributions may be made to the charity of choice.




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