Harriet B. Kuhr

Harriet B. Kuhr – community volunteer, reader, writer and homemaker – has died in Missoula at age 86. A longtime resident of Great Falls, she and her husband – the late William (Bill) Kuhr – moved to Missoula in 2012.

Harriet, known affectionately as "H" to some family members, was born in Chinook on Halloween 1928. Her parents – Hulda Burns and attorney Harry L. Burns – named her Ida Harriet Burns, but everyone knew her as Harriet. She was the little sister to two older brothers, Tom and Richard, who teased her with live rattlesnakes they'd bring to town from the family ranch on Clear Creek. And she teased them right back, especially older brother Tom, who was the handsome lifeguard at the Chinook pool and later a pilot during World War II.

Harriet met her sweetheart Bill in high school. Both attended Montana State College (now Montana State University), where they dated and became engaged. Harriet graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science in home economics. She received her teaching certificate, married Bill later that year and they lived in Missoula for three years before moving to Great Falls.

Bill was an architect, often working late hours and weekends, while Harriet raised their family of three children. She was an inveterate reader, a terrific writer and she loved cards, baseball and crossword puzzles. Both Bill and Harriet loved their house in Great Falls (which Bill designed and they built together in 1960).

Harriet was active in a number of organizations including the American Association of University Women, where she worked on the annual book sale, often helping research and price collectible books the AAUW put in its silent auction. Her love of books and reading meant she was a regular library patron, devouring mystery novels and researching stocks and bonds. She belonged to the "Afternoon Book Club" of women friends, who met monthly for years. For more than 40 years, she was a member of the "Learn and Earn" investment club that she and 22 other women formed in 1968. The meetings were fun, but the investors were all business.

When her three children joined the Great Falls Swim Club in the 1960s, Harriet got involved, too, ultimately serving as president. She made sure the Great Falls Tribune and TV stations covered the swim team by typing up stories about swim meet results and personally delivering them to the newsrooms.

After her children were grown, Harriet worked for a time in public relations at Columbus Hospital in the late 1970s. She applied for and got a position without telling her family because, she said, she wanted to succeed on her own.

Harriet loved to travel but was a reluctant outdoorswoman. She organized many family camping trips around Montana, and endured the backpacking trips, hiking and cross-country skiing that the rest of the family loved. She and Bill loved traveling with their adult children and their spouses. Highlights included a trip to France, Germany and Norway – a trip for which Harriet learned conversational French – and shorter visits to such cities as Seattle, Santa Fe and New York.

Harriet was Bill's navigator for the frequent trips they took around the Rocky Mountain West and to Mexico in his Piper 9690 Whiskey, and said she never felt more relaxed than when they were flying.

Among survivors are her children, Peggy (Thomas Foor) of Missoula, Barbara (John Plunkett) of Park City, Utah, and Bill T. (Rose) of Seattle, and her beloved granddaughter Frances Elaine (Franny) of Seattle. Her husband, Bill, died in 2013. No service is planned at this time.

The family wishes to acknowledge the many kind and talented caregivers at The Springs of Missoula. Memorials in Harriet's name may be sent to the Great Falls AAUW, the Great Falls Library or to any animal shelter that takes care of cats.
Read Harriet Kuhr's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.