Thomas E. Kuersten

Thomas E.Kuersten passed away on August 17, 2023, after battling kidney cancer for three-and-a-half years. He was 79. He died peacefully in hospice at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. His wife of 44 years Joan and his daughter Marta were at his bedside. Tom is survived by his wife, daughter, son-in-law Nathan Wolaver, two grandchildren: Sabrina and Elliott Wolaver, and his sister, Ann Duncan, two nephews, and numerous cousins. His father, Max Otto Kuersten and mother, Dorothy Kuersten predeceased him, as did his brother James. Tom was born in Edison Park, Illinois. He graduated from Maine West High School in DesPlaines, Illinois, in 1962, and earned a Bachelors in Music Education from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He sang for many years in the professional choir at the Church of the Atonement in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. He also composed and orchestrated numerous pieces for the religious services at the church, including a Mass, which was performed at Tom’s and Joan’s wedding at the church. Although Tom worked much of his adult life as a driver for a package delivery service, his first love was music. Earlier in his life he sang for several seasons with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, and was a supernumary in several operas at Lyric Opera of Chicago. In later life he enjoyed playing bridge, working crossword puzzles, Sodoku, and other word games. He also was a good cook. A memorial lunch honoring Tom’s life was held in October 2023.