Francis Mason Kurtz ’54

Mason died peacefully March 2, 2018, in Delray Beach, Fla.

He grew up in Bronxville, N.Y., and came to Princeton from the Hackley School. He majored in economics and joined Campus Club. After two years in the Army and a year with a lumber company in Reno, Nev., he studied business and industrial management at the Wharton School of Business.

Mason enjoyed a career in finance, but he had a special love for music. Most people remember him with a guitar or banjo in his hands, playing solo or with various musical groups, including the Princeton Tiger Paws, the Fralinger String Band, the Easton Banjo Society, and the bluegrass band he founded after his retirement, 32nd Time Out.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jean Hartman Kurtz; his brother and sister-in-law, Richard and Perry Kurtz; his children and their spouses, Chuck and Sylvie Kurtz, Randy Kurtz and Brian Cheslack, and Jennifer and Richard Reilly; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandson.