Widow tells story of gracious jewelers who restored late husband's wedding ring, crucifix
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Two days after Christmas last year, Melissa Kurz's husband was killed on Florida 9B in a terrible crash that left his car swallowed by flames.
Afterward, in shock, she went to the medical examiner's office where she was given all that was left of Brian Kurz's belongings. “They hand me, I kid you not, an evidence bag with a block of char," she said.
In the char, mixed in with a melted mass of seatbelt and shirt, was his platinum wedding ring and a St. Christopher's necklace with crucifix.
“And that’s all I have left of my husband," said Melissa, who lives in St. Augustine.
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Brian was 37 and had been a pharmacist at the Walgreens at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and at the World Golf Village. He would sometimes pay the bills of patients who couldn't afford their needed medication. He loved to play guitar. Some 550 people came to his memorial service at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Augustine.
Melissa, 36, never got to say goodbye to him, never got the chance for closure. But in the midst of her grief, she has found vast support and wanted to tell about just one example of that kindness and help.
"There’s so much bad in this world, and here’s the good in the world," she said.
She tells of David and Chase Breitmoser, owners of Lakewood Jewelers at San Jose and University boulevards in Jacksonville, who have had the store for about 4½ years.
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They were friends with the Kurzes, and Brian and Melissa had bought their wedding rings there, among other items. The Breitmosers went to their wedding.
And Melissa would visit the shop with her dogs, Ollie and Oscar, after they worked at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson as therapy pets.
She wrote about their kindness after the crash, when they volunteered to help:
"As I held the evidence bag in disbelief and shock, Chace arrived at my door at 8:30 p.m. She swept the plastic bags of unidentifiable objects up and was on her way. Three nights later, she reappeared with a twinkle in her eye and shining new boxes. Brian’s chain, medal and crucifix gleamed in the light, and his wedding ring with its perfect imperfections still adorning it all around. The inscription inside, completely legible."
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Over three evenings, after closing his shop for the day, David Breitmoser put on goggles, a respirator, gloves and apron. Then he went to work.
The platinum ring was fairly easy to extract and restore. “It just needed a little soap and water to clean it up. It was fine," Breitmoser said.
The necklace though, with each tiny link melded with the seatbelt? That took more work. He used a heat gun to soften the plastic and sharp picks, like dental tools, to separate it from the chain. That took hours each night.
Breitmoser called it an especially satisfying job. “It was the least I could do, really, just thinking of things I could do to help. Brian was such a cool guy, such a nice man, and Melissa is just a sweetheart," he said.
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Melissa Kurz has overcome severe hardships in her life. Years before, she had been in a terrible car crash and had five surgeries while spending three years in and out of the hospital.
Taking part in a therapy-dog program — her dog Oscar was featured in a 2016 Times-Union story — was her way of giving back, she said.
And after Brian's funeral, she had to be hospitalized on a breathing machine after contracting COVID-19.
But she remembers the nurses' compassion and their words for Brian, who was well-known as a pharmacist. "We loved your husband," they told her. "Your husband was the most special person who ever lived.”
Melissa found solace in those words and in the many acts of kindness she received after Brian's death. “I‘ll never have full closure or anything," she said, "but I do know there are angels among us.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Widow grateful to Jacksonville jewelers who restored charred ring
