Dolores Irma Kuriger

Dolores Irma Kuriger, 83, of Norman, passed away peacefully Tuesday, November 26, 2019.  The third of four children, she was born on May 25, 1936 to John and Irma Swanson in Chicago, Illinois, and raised there.

After graduating high school, Dolores worked as a secretary for the General Services Administration in downtown Chicago, where she met the love of her life, William “Bill” Kuriger.

After marrying Bill on August 25, 1956, they moved to Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and then Ames, IA, so Bill could continue his education.  While Bill worked on his PhD at Iowa State, they lived in a two-bedroom, 500 sq. foot duplex with their five young children.  After Bill completed his degree in 1966 and accepted a faculty position at the University of Oklahoma, the family moved to Norman.  While at OU, Bill and Dolores hosted numerous international students.  Dolores returned to the workforce after her youngest started school and began working full-time for the Air Force ROTC at the University of Oklahoma in 1980.  She retired from the university in 1999 after 19 years.

Dolores became involved in Girl Scouting in 1966.  During her 31 active years as a Girl Scout volunteer, she was a leader at every level, trained adults at every level, served four terms on the council Board of Directors, and was a Girl Scout National Trainer for 5½ years.  At one time or another, she was the troop leader for each of her six daughters.  She also worked with her son’s Cub Scout troop.

Dolores and her family started camping in the early 1970s and usually spent a month every summer visiting state and national parks around the country.  After retirement, Bill and Dolores continued their camping and spent extended periods in their motorhome.  They visited every state, most of the Canadian provinces, and even went on an RV caravan tour of Mexico.  In addition, they traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, and Israel.

Dolores was a longtime parishioner of St. Thomas More Catholic Church and held various positions in the church over the years.  She and Bill enjoyed square dancing and danced regularly in several clubs for over 40 years.  She was also a member of the Engineering Spouse Club

After retirement, she volunteered at the Veterans Center, The Christmas Store, and the Center for Children and Families.  Dolores liked to sew and made many of her children’s clothes, so they frequently had matching outfits (which the younger girls disliked since they kept getting the same outfit for years as hand-me-downs).  Her other hobbies included needlepoint, reading, doing crossword puzzles, playing scrabble, following OU football and both men’s and women’s basketball, and spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dolores is preceded in death by her husband, Bill, her parents, her brothers, John Swanson and Roland Swanson.  She is survived by her daughters Eileen (Gary) Huestis of Blackfoot, ID, Diane (Curtis) Cotts of Gardner, CO, Deb (Jeff) Smith of Muncie, IN, Sharon (Karl) Rysted of Las Cruces, NM, Christine Kuriger of Norman, Janet (Mike) Guyer of Ft. Smith, AR, and son Glenn (Sarah) Kuriger of Temple, TX; sister Linda (Don) Leigh of Fort Worth, TX; grandchildren Megan, Derrick, Jonathan, Rachel, Nicolas, Grey, Kylie, Kristel, Lauren, Ryan, Kirsten, Kevin, Melanie, Alex, Isabelle, Wesley, and Eli; and great-grandchildren Mistaya, Tucker, Kieran, Aiden, Weston, Holden, and Eliana.

The family will receive friends at Havenbrook Funeral Home in Norman on Sunday, December 1, 2019 for Visitation from 1:00 pm to 6:30 pm and a Prayer Vigil at 6:30 pm.  A Funeral Mass will be conducted by Fr. James Goins at 11:00 am at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Norman on Monday, December 2, 2019 with interment following at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Oklahoma Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association or St. Thomas More Capital Campaign Fund in Norman (100 East Stinson Street, Norman, OK 73072).

The family is forever grateful for the love and care Dolores received from the staff at Arbor House Reminisce in Norman.