Owen "Butch" Jesse Kuntz Obit

Owen "Butch" Jesse Kuntz, 79, of San Tan Valley, AZ died Friday, May 27, 2022 at the Lund Care Home in Gilbert, AZ after a brief hospitalization.
He was born Oct. 4, 1942 in St. Cloud to Elmer and Violet (Almquist) Kuntz of Crosby. He was a member of the 1961 graduating class of Aitkin High School. As a young man he developed an active interest in both hunting and fishing and was filled with great love for both activities. He also had an interest in aviation and airplanes, eventually training for and receiving his private pilot's license in the mid 1970s. He purchased and maintained his own small private plane for a time but due to a change in life circumstances he gave up flying in the early 1980s. Butch loved to do crossword puzzles, enjoyed watching football, baseball and hockey, and was a member of a hobby-league Curling team in Grand Rapids in the early- to mid 1970s. In his later years enjoyed engaging his friends in a game of pool.
In his early working years, Butch was hired on as a salesman and tailor at the Royal Clothing store in Aitkin. Some years later he relocated to Grand Rapids where he took on a job as a clothing salesman for Lasker and Upon Clothiers. He was eventually named manager of the store and worked in that position through the mid 1980s. When a back injury sidelined him from that job, he began a new career as an Advertising Sales Rep for the Grand Rapids Herald Review Newspaper, where he worked until his retirement.
Once retired, he moved away from his beloved Grand Rapids community and relocated to San Tan Valley, AZ with his wife Renae. There, they have enjoyed retirement, relaxing and spending time with friends and loved ones when able to do so.
Due to familial circumstances no public memorial is planned at this time.
Owen was preceded in death by an infant brother, his father, Elmer Kuntz (2012) and his mother, Violet Kuntz (2007).
He is survived by his wife, Renae Kuntz of San Tan Valley, AZ; his sister, Gail (Bob) Gallego of New River, AZ; his two sons, Bryan Kuntz of Hopkins and Jeff Kuntz of Bovey; his niece, Kristine Menzel of Phoenix, AZ as well as additional extended family and numerous friends in both Minnesota and Arizona.