Kurtis R Mayer

Obituary Kurtis R. Mayer On Tuesday, November 13, 2012, a bright light faded from the Tacoma community. Kurtis R. Mayer was born on January 14, 1930 in Mainz, Germany. As a Jewish child in Nazi Germany, Kurt lived through the gradual loss of rights as he and his parents, Joe and Emmy Mayer, moved around and lived in hiding during the early years of Adolph Hitler. When Kurt was eight years old, he was placed in a Jewish orphanage in Bad Nauheim, Germany while his parents hid from the authorities. During the infamous Kristallnacht, he was marched barefoot with other Jewish children through the snow at gunpoint and forced to stand and watch the Nazis pour gasoline and set fire to the torah scrolls and prayer books from his school. In April, 1940 at the age of ten years old, Kurt and his parents secured a visa to the US and crossed the Atlantic on one of the last ships to carry Jewish refugees to America. He left behind two grandparents, an aunt, and many friends who perished in places like Sobibor in Poland and Terezin outside of Prague. From the time he was ten years old until he left for college, Kurt lived in San Francisco, California. There, he attended Lowell High School and became a debater, winning many state and national debates despite having not learned English until he came to America. Kurt also worked as a speech writer for the California State Attorney General and eventual Governor Pat Brown. After high school, Kurt attended College of the Pacific in Stockton and later Hastings Law School. He was drafted into the US Army during the Korean War, and served as an interpreter in the Judge Advocates office in the US military in Germany. Later, he worked for the Red Cross in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1957, Kurt moved to Tacoma, and with his business partner Curt Peterson founded a home building company, Mayer and Peterson. In 1964, he opened Mayer Built Homes. During Kurt's building career, he developed land into subdivisions and built several thousand homes and apartments in Washington, Idaho and Colorado. In the early years of his career, before equal housing laws, Kurt championed desegregation by selling many of his homes to minority families in neighborhoods that were all white. His own experience living through the racism and intolerance of his childhood helped him understand how unfair the standards of the 1950's were. He faced much resistance from this effort, and seemed to make it his mission to swim against the tide of injustice wherever he saw it. One of his final projects was the Tacoma campus of The Evergreen State College. During his 50 years in the real estate business, Kurt advised numerous organizations on the development of affordable housing. He testified on housing issues before the US House of Representatives Sub-committee on Banking. He lectured at a National Association of Home Builders convention in Las Vegas. In 1982, Kurt and other developers filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government for violating contracts between HUD and those developers. The case, known as Rainier View, Kurt and Pamela Mayer vs. The United States of America, lasted many years and ultimately ended in victory before the US Supreme Court. Kurt once said, "This is a great country where an immigrant can sue the government and win!" Kurt loved politics and was always active and engaged in the political life of his country and local community. He met and befriended many political leaders throughout his life, and once hosted a luncheon at his home for then Vice President Al Gore. Living in the Parkland area for many years, Kurt was invited to lecture at Pacific Lutheran University at a Holocaust Studies course more than 30 years ago. That began a relationship which would forever shape his life. After many years lecturing in Holocaust studies and at the PLU business school, Kurt was asked and became PLU's first Jewish member of the Board of Regents. Later, with help from friends and family, Kurt was instrumental in creating an endowed chair in Holocaust Studies at PLU in his name, wishing to make it permanent to honor the memory of his relatives who died in the Holocaust. Kurt returned many times to Europe, and specifically to Mainz where he maintained childhood friends for the remainder of his life. He always felt a connection to Germany despite the way he was forced to leave. In 2010 he returned to Mainz with his family, and walked along the Rhine River with his grandchildren at the same location where he walked 70 years earlier with his own grandfather. He witnessed the groundbreaking and opening of a new Jewish synagogue in Mainz built on the same location where the temple of his childhood had been destroyed. In 2009, Kurt published his autobiography, My Personal Brush with History, and donated the proceeds to the Holocaust Studies program at PLU. In 2011 he was invited to sign copies of his book at The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. In October 2012, the translation and publishing of his book in German was completed. Kurt was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend. He leaves behind his wife Pam of 51 years, his daughter Natalie, son Joe (Gloria), and three grandchildren, Elliott, Ethan and Jonathan. He touched many lives with his friendship, wisdom and humor. Kurt believed more than anything in the American Dream and lived it throughout his life. His sharp mind and wit were with him up until the last day. He will be profoundly missed. A graveside service will be at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, November 16, 2012 at Home of Peace Cemetery in Lakewood, with a memorial service and reception to follow at Temple Beth El. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Kurt Mayer Chair in Holocaust Studies at Pacific Lutheran University or to Temple Beth El. Please leave online condolences at www.gaffneycares.com. Arrangements by Gaffney Funeral Home, 253-572-6003.