Kurt Stephen Roth

May Kurt rest in peace. He has always remained in my heart. My deepest sympathies also go to his daughters, Hanna and Eva: Saying a final goodbye to a parent is so painful and difficult. May God give them comfort and strength to get thru the days that follow!

My deepest condolences to Kurt's loving friends and family.. We met back in Junior High . I will always remember him as a very kind soul with a good heart. May the Good Lord hold him close .
Bill King

I had the pleasure of working with Kurt on a couple of the Architectural Digest Projects. I learned things well beyond the Job site. Spending time with him culling trees from the sourlands and managing our nervous NY architects are some very fond memories. I think of those days often. God Speed Brother, I got the watch.

Kevin

I met Kurt through my wife, Janet (Gerry Seid's sister) back in the late '70s. I was fresh out of college, no concept of what I wanted to do with my life. To me, Kurt embodied a truly one-of-a-kind style: simultaneously bookish but non-intellectual, combined with norm-disregarding sense of life's possibilities -- a guy who could have lived on intellectual firepower alone, but chose instead to work with his hands, a kind of post-Beat carpenter. I basically wanted the balance he'd struck (even though I would never be Kurt, couldn't pull off his easy cool style). But I was willing to give it a shot, and, when I learned that he might have a big job coming up in Manhattan (my stomping grounds) rehabbing some store on the Upper East Side, I asked, with some trepidation, if he might take me on as a carpenter-apprentice ... and, to my surprise and delight, KR said "hell, why not!" I immediately set about re-aligning my life goals from the default-choice office gig to a life as a skilled cool-dude carpenter. The idea of working with and learning from Kurt (who knows? maybe getting to be a good friend ?) seemed a gift opportunity. Unfortunately, as the project start date approached, Kurt told me that something went wrong and the Manhattan job was not to be, so we went our separate ways. He stayed true to the course he'd set long ago, staying true to some utterly unique and original inner nature; I snapped back onto a pre-Kurt path (public sector lawyer). I never got to be a real friend of Kurt's -- I kept up with him mostly through Janet's continuing friendship with him over the years. But I always admired Kurt, loved who he was, respected the choices he made. I can imagine that he was a bit more difficult the closer you got to him, but, at my admittedly somewhat distant orbit, he was a tremendously appealing guy, someone who could draw you in while always conveying that, in some fundamental way, he would always remain an unreconstructed loner. Even though I hadn't seen Kurt in years, I'll miss him, and will regret he's not out there somewhere on the road

If Kurt read this obituary, he would say "I approve this message." What a life...we all talked about hitting the road; he did it.

I grew up with Kurt through grade school and high school. Good memories of him and his parents. Still remember him struggling with HS German class.
Bruce Deffler

As the days and weeks pass, and as you return to life's routine, may you continue to feel comforted by the love and support of family and friends.

We know you will be incredibly missed by your daughters. Their memories will be the one's where you were a free spirit and healthy and strong. All the good stuff from a dad who was loved.
Rest in peace, Kurt. Love, Petra and Jack