Athletic Accomplishments
The sixth of twelve children of John and Arline, Jack Burdette Kurtz was born April 25, 1930, in Greentown, Ohio, and graduated salutatorian of his class in Ravenna Township High School in 1948. Burdette, as he is known to his family and friends, placed fifth in the Portage County eighth grade state test of scholarship and was on the scholarship team all four years of high school. He excelled in baseball, football, and track. A starter at halfback, quarterback, and punter for Ravenna Township Schools, he earned first-team all-county honors as a junior and senior. While on the track team, he made his most indelible mark on school and county athletics. He was undefeated in the discus during the 1948 regular season and won the Ohio “Class B” State Championship at OSU Stadium in Columbus. Following graduation, he worked at the Annevar Mill and Davey Tree Company before entering the United States Army. Discharged in 1953, he enrolled at Kent State University majoring in Education with a concentration in the sciences. Burdette graduated in 1957 and began teaching at Akron Springfield. He retired from the Field Local School System in 1985. He married Dolores Wood of Tallmadge, Ohio, a registered nurse at Akron City Hospital, in 1958. They lived in Brimfield for 30 years and had three children; Jeff- who previously served as Athletic Director at Ravenna High School, Marty, and Carol. Dolores passed away in 1989. Kurtz recently returned to Ravenna after living in Wooster for several years.