Our Founding

John Kurtz is one of seven children
Continued from "Our Story" (click here to go back)

raised by John and Irene Kurtz in a farming community in northwest New Jersey. He, like Donna, was shaken out of religious apathy by God’s Mercy at the age of nineteen.

A few years later, John had the opportunity to live and work in a few Catholic mission churches in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma as a Brother with the Glenmary Home Missioners. It was during this time that he first witnessed children in need and came to know that he could love a dispossessed child in need of a father's love.

In the fall of 1980, John left Oklahoma to attend Catholic University. He didn't earn his degree there, but did meet his wife during a wine and cheese party, which, he's convinced, was more valuable than the diploma. In 1985, John completed his Religious Studies degree and graduated Maxima Cum Laude from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.

The two were married in 1984.

After finding out that they were unable to conceive, they accepted God's will and decided to adopt their first child, Rosa, from an orphanage in Mexico. Rosa was the first among many to be adopted and loved by the couple, who embraced even children who were older or came from abusive or needy situations. Eventually, as the family grew, John and Donna discerned that it was God's will for their outreach to become a non-profit ministry.

Thus, St. Joseph's House was established on December 14th, 1999.

Having already assisted many children and families in education, they established St. Philomena's Academy in September, 2002. To this day, John and Donna Kurtz, as well as the other members of St. Joseph's House, continue to fulfill their mission of serving the needs of children and families, providing tuition-free, quality Catholic education to families--evangelizing, and promoting a "culture of life."

One of the most amazing families you will ever encounter...

"The scientific 'advancements' in contraception, chemical abortion, and in vitro fertilization have conditioned modern society to view children as commodities--possessions to be acquired and discarded at a whim. John and Donna Kurtz are a couple who accepted their infertility not as a misfortune, but as an opportunity to do something great for God and his most precious gift of life. Rather than pursue immoral medical alternatives, they instead opened their home to broken-hearted children, and through them God has created one of the most amazing families you will ever encounter." excerpt from an article in Celebrate Life magazine, Jan-Feb 2003

One of the most amazing families you will ever encounter...

Read more about the Kurtz Family and St. Joseph's House...