Paul Stoltzfus Kurtz, 94, died March 12, 2025, at Fairmount Homes, Ephrata, Pa. He was born April 29, 1930, to C.J. and Elsie Kurtz in Elverson, Pa., on a dairy farm. 

He attended Lancaster Mennonite School, where he met his wife of 74 years, Lydia (Sensenig), and graduated in the class of 1947. He got his bachelor’s degree from Albright College in Reading, master’s from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and Ph.D. in psychology from West Virginia University. He was a psychology professor at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., a psychologist at the Mount Pleasant State Home and Training School and administrator at a home for severely and profoundly handicapped children, the Hattie Larlham Foundation in Mantua, Ohio.

He and Lydia retired in Elizabethtown, Pa., where they attended Elizabethtown Mennonite Church. They later moved to Fairmount Homes and attended Hinkletown Mennonite Church, the church where they were married. After his father died, Paul got “bitten by the genealogy bug” and joined Amish and other groups in restoring the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead, which was scheduled to be demolished.

He is survived by his wife, Lydia; children Paulson (Shirley), Pearl (Eric Bruker), Phillip and Phyllis (Eric Ulrey); seven grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; brothers John of Snow Hill, Md., and Calvin (Esther Mae) of Elverson, Pa.; and a sister, Caroline Plank of Bremen, Ohio.

He was preceded in death by brothers Elam (Orpah) and Chester (Catherine); and a sister, Lena Carpenter (Sidney).

Donations may be made to the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead Preservation Committee.