John Matt Kuntz

John Matt Kuntz was born on July 28, 1919 and passed away July 15, 2011, less than two weeks before his 92nd birthday. He was the oldest of five children born to Andrew and Veronica Kuntz in Mandan, North Dakota. His siblings are Helen, Marion, George and Raymond. In 1948, John married Doris Maxine Smith and together they had six children; Stephen (Maria), Mary, Cheri (Daniel Brittain), Debbie (Donald Snider) and Colleen and Michael. They made their residence in Puyallup, Washington. The marriage ended, but he remained an important part of his family’s lives. In 1988, John married Hazel Rusk and they resided in Parkland, Washington. Hazel has two sons, Michael and Joseph (Tari) from a previous marriage. He is preceded in death by Doris (2001), daughter, Mary (1959), daughter, Colleen (1965) and grandson, Donald (1988) and his sister, Marion (2002). John’s life included 13 grandchildren (Jennifer, James, Stephen, Joey, Scott, Danielle, Jonathan, JaCinda, Shauna, Randi, Ronni, Donald and Amanda) and 12 great-grandchildren (Garret, Garner, Garren, Jordan, Tyler, Zoey, Ashlee, Trever, Jaydon, Elijah, Aiden, Kennedy) and one great-great grandchild (Garner VI). John was a World War II Veteran. After serving his time in the Army, he worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad. In the 1950’s, John became a sandblaster for the Bremerton Naval Shipyard. He also worked at Lockheed, Todd Shipyards and Star Iron. Stephen, John’s son, followed in his father’s footsteps and was a sandblaster at Bremerton Naval Shipyard for 30 years until he retired. John had many friends and he enjoyed the time he spent with them. He was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back and he would always be there if you needed a helping hand. His recreation room held a lot of great memories of times spent with friends and family. It was always a good party!! John was a man who had many collections over the years. He collected old bottles, beer cans, 78 phonograph records for his jukebox, collector cars and his last and biggest was his Coca-cola collection. John always had a big personality. He was kind, giving and funny. He always enjoyed a good joke or had one to tell. With his dementia, the jokes went away but we will always remember the sense of humor he had. For all that he gave of himself to his family and friends; he will truly be missed and forever loved. Dad, We want you to know that when we look up in the sky and there are too many starts to count, we will be thinking of you. Every star will shine a different memory. We have enough memories to light up all those stars, but to us you will always be the biggest and brightest star of all. We love you, Dad and you will forever be in our hearts. Love your family The family wants to say a special thank you to the Franciscan Hospice House (2901 Bridgeport Way W, University Place, WA 98466). Words are not enough to express our gratitude for the loving care the team gave our dad and the support they gave us in his short time there. You will forever hold a special place in our hearts.