Les Kurrasch

Leslie Franklin Kurrasch was born in New Richmond, Wisconsin, the only child of Frank and Esther Kurrasch. He grew up hunting and fishing with his dad, riding bikes and jumping, with his cousins, from the railroad bridge into the Apple River. As a youth, he bagged and delivered groceries, picked beans, unloaded cans for Friday’s cannery, did railroad track repairs in the winter and worked at the local car dealership. He also worked at Strand’s ski factory and at Phil Laventure’s machine shop in town, where he learned metalworking. In the winter, he would take his car out on the widespread, get up to 50 or 60 miles per hour, and spin donuts for a mile or two down the frozen river.

Les earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He worked first at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, where he made significant improvements to Catalina flying boat patrol bombers. From there, he moved to Inglewood, California and went to work at Douglas Aircraft in El Segundo, refining and developing aircraft for the US Navy. He did pioneering work on flight controls for supersonic flight.

Les married Marion Kirkpatrick on Aug 6, 1951, and the couple settled in Inglewood. With their first child, Anne, on the way, Les and Marion moved to the Westchester area of Los Angeles, near Les’s job at Douglas Aircraft. Their second child, Jim, followed in three years. In 1965, Douglas had transferred Les to their large facility in Long Beach, so he moved the family to Lakewood. He was a devoted husband and father, and made time for many enjoyable family activities. The family travelled extensively, visiting nearly every state on vacation.

Les and Marion were active members of the First Baptist Church of Lakewood (now Arbor Road Church) from 1965 until their health declined in recent years.

Les became a director of mechanical engineering at Douglas, where he reported to the senior vice president of engineering and managed design engineers working both military and commercial programs. This position took him to places like Japan, Hong Kong and New Zealand to support sales of aircraft.

After their children were grown, Les and Marion enjoyed travelling the world together, and visited Scandinavia, Europe, the British Isles, the Mediterranean, the Middle East (including Israel), and New Zealand. They travelled through the Panama Canal, and touched every continent except Antarctica.

After almost 98 years with us, Les went home into the loving arms of Jesus on June 29, 2016. He was preceded in death by Marion, his wife of 64 years, and is survived by their children, Anne Jacobson of Pacific Palisades and Jim (Jann) Kurrasch of Long Beach, and grandsons Jesse Kurrasch and Adam Jacobson.

Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401