On the afternoon of February 7th, 2022, Trish Kurek peacefully passed away after a brief hospital stay in Salt Lake City, at the age of 69.
Trish was born March 4th, 1952, in Youngstown, Ohio to John and Frances Kurek, she was their third out of what would become eight children and their second girl. She was always proud of her hometown, she was a graduate of Austintown Fitch, Class of 1970. After graduation, she spent a short time at Youngstown State University, before joining the Navy in 1971 and being sent to serve in San Diego. She loved her time in California but later relocated to Montana in 1976, which would become the home she knew and loved for the rest of her life.
Trish was always dedicated to her job at the State of Montana, where she loyally worked for 32 years, having retired in 2010, but her free time was spent in many ways. An avid bookworm, it was a rare afternoon that her children didn’t run past her, curled up with a book on her little corner of the couch. She loved to read and could quite often be found with a romance novel, but this was no watch for her love of knowledge. She would often pick up a volume of the encyclopedia and just thumb through it looking for something she questioned, or just reading through something she’d never taken notice of before. We told her after every episode of her favorite show, that Jeopardy was no match for her!
Trish was a member of several clubs and groups, many associated with the parish she loved, Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Helena. She attended prayer group and book club and met for a sewing club that would make prayer shawls and lap robes for local nursing homes. And no family birth or special occasion went by without a quilt being made just for them and sent out. Upon her death, one niece reached out that her kids would cuddle their quilts from Aunt Trish a little tighter tonight.
To many people, Trish could be seen as quiet or shy, but that was only to the unknowing eye. Once you got to know her, you were welcomed into her world of kindness, love, and an amazing sense of humor. It is for these that she will be missed the most.
Trish was preceded in death by her parents, John and Frances Kurek, her sister Christine Kurek, and her sister-in-law, Shirley Kurek.
Trish is survived by her three children, Charles Buck and his wife Norena, Stena Buck and her fiancée Stan Vandervort, and Abigail Buck. Her siblings John Kurek, Phillip Kurek, Kathleen Foster and her husband Wayne, Josephine Clowes and her husband Don, Frances Miller and her husband Mark, and her baby brother James Kurek. She was a proud grandmother of eight: Cameron age 25, Katelyn age 23, Chloe age 20, Alexys age 15, Owen age 14, Ella age 10, Sidney age 6 and Sienna age 3. By far one of her proudest achievements was the birth of her great-grandson, Emmitt.
Flowers can be sent to Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home in Helena, Montana. Any charitable contributions can made in Trish’s name to the Retirement Fund for Religious at www.retiredreligious.org a charity she felt strongly about, or to Saint Mary’s Catholic Community.
Visitation will begin at 11:10 a.m. with a funeral Mass to be celebrated at 12:10 p.m. on Monday, February 21st at Saint Mary Catholic Community, 1700 Missoula Ave. Burial with military honors will be at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22nd at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Harrison.
Service Schedule
Visitation
11:10 a.m.
Monday February 21, 2022
Saint Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Ave
Helena, Montana 59601
Funeral Mass
12:10 p.m.
Monday February 21, 2022
Saint Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Ave
Helena, Montana 59602
Burial with Military Honors
1 p.m.
Tuesday February 22, 2022
Montana State Veterans Cemetery
Heroes Road
Fort Harrison, Montana 59636
Service Schedule
Visitation
11:10 a.m.
Monday February 21, 2022
Saint Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Ave
Helena, Montana 59601
Funeral Mass
12:10 p.m.
Monday February 21, 2022
Saint Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Ave
Helena, Montana 59602
Burial with Military Honors
1 p.m.
Tuesday February 22, 2022
Montana State Veterans Cemetery
Heroes Road
Fort Harrison, Montana 59636
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Monica Johnston says
Dear Chuck, Stena, and Abigail, So Sorry to learn of the death of your Mom, Trish. I always enjoyed the Christmas letters she placed with her Christmas cards. She was a little older than me, so I didn’t know a lot about her, especially being in the service that was mentioned in your beautiful obituary. May God surround his arms around all of you at this difficult time of loss. Peace.
Sharon Warn says
We are very sorry for your loss. Trish was a good neighbor. Take care of yourselves, George & Sharon Warn
Wilda McGraw says
Although I didn’t work directly with Trish, we worked in the same Bureau at DPHHS. I remember how very proud she was of her kids. She was always friendly and had a smile whenever we saw each other in the hallway.
I am so sorry to learn of her passing, and I send my deepest sympathy to her family.