Edward L. Kutzleb, 88, who served as superintendent of Durango School District 9-R from 1968 to 1989, died Jan. 20 after a bout with pneumonia at the Cottonwood Inn and Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center in Durango.
“He was from Leadville, so he was known for never calling any snow days,” said his daughter, Lynn Kutzleb. “Every day in Leadville is a snow day.”
Walter Jackson, who served as an assistant superintendent under Kutzleb, said the bonds to finance building of the current Durango High School were approved during Kutzleb’s tenure.
In addition, he said the gifted student program and a cost-sharing arrangement with several other districts, San Juan Board of Cooperative Educational Service, which 9-R left in 2016, were all established during Kutzleb’s tenure.
Jackson remembers Kutzleb as competent, and meticulous with a disciplined work ethic. “If he wanted a project, he got it accomplished, and he got it accomplished in the way he wanted it.”
At the same time, he said, Kutzleb kept his sense of humor while checking off the projects on his work list.
He remembers Kutzleb joking with a 9-R principal who was habitually late to meetings with the superintendent.
While Lynn Kutzleb remembered being teased as a student in Durango schools by her father’s parsimony with snow days, Jackson said Kutzleb always had a reason for his calls.
“It wasn’t willy-nilly. He’d meet with the bus drivers, and if the roads weren’t safe and passable, he’d call a snow day.”
Services are pending for Kutzleb. His daughter said the family expects to hold a memorial around Memorial Day.
Kutzleb competed his doctorate in education from University of Northern Colorado in 1962.
His 37 years in education also included administrative positions in Ignacio, Climax, Leadville, South Bend and Cañon City, and they also included a professorship at Notre Dame University.
In 1954, Kutzleb was drafted into the Army. He served in the 11th Airborne as a paratrooper and fought in the Korean War.
Kutzleb is survived by his daughters, Lynn of Durango and Kristen Stephens of Colorado Springs; his son, Kurt Kutzleb of Durango; and five grandchildren.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
