Friends grieve, laugh

It was a crowd that laughed.

More than 50 people gathered near the No. 7 lifeguard tower in Huntington Beach Thursday night. While the occasion was an unexpected death of Richard Kurtz a man who made friends in Huntington Beach and in Hollywood for almost 30 years, the mood was more about celebration than loss.

And when 10-year roommate Bill Flynn joked about Kurtz’s mannerisms — the way his stories would trail off with “yadda yadda,” or the way a request for a place to stay a few weeks might stretch into years — everyone at least chuckled.

Kurtz, who founded a Huntington Beach set-decoration company, was killed by a brain aneurysm, shortly after Costa Mesa police arrested him Saturday. He was 45.

Though police arrested Kurtz on suspicion of DUI, those connected to the substance-abuse treatment program he attended say he hadn’t drunk a drop and that nurses at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian confirmed it to them; rather, they said, he had made huge strides in putting his life back together and was sticking to it.

“I can say for a fact, Rich was not under the influence of alcohol or any other substance,” said Joe Motley, director of South Coast Counseling, at the memorial. “He had begun to be under the influence of life. He was absolutely on Cloud Nine.”

Friends and family from Huntington Beach, Los Angeles and his hometown, Chicago, spoke about Kurtz, who came to California in 1979 and liked it so much he never left. They called him easygoing, optimisticand so energetic he once leapt off a cliff into Lake Havasu and broke his neck.

After Kurtz left hospital care, friend Jim Flynn said, “He came up to me with braces on his neck and a six-pack of beer. I asked him what happened. He said, ‘Sit down; I’ll tell you about it.’”

Through his company, kurtzunlimited, Kurtz broke new ground in set decoration on Hollywood films, TV and major events. Printing on huge posters, glass, metal or other substances, he could put images on screen in a way no one else could, said business colleague Mark Murphy. His portfolio ranged from shows such as “Entourage” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to the ESPY Awards and the Republican National Convention.

Police said he was pronounced dead at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday. The Orange County District Attorney’s office is investigating his death, which is its routine practice for any police custody death.

Kurtz was on life support long enough for family to see him and for his organs to be donated, friends said. Giving those organs went a long way in helping with the shock of grief, brother Mike Kurtz said.

“All of a sudden, we had a purpose,” he said. “Rich can live on in the people he has helped. We saved two lives last night.”

Kurtz will also live on at his company website, www.kurtzunlimited.com, which has become a permanent memorial.