Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz was extolled as a holy man, an organized and pastoral leader, and as a man with a penchant for silliness, by those who streamed into The Gardens during his installation as Archbishop of Louisville yesterday, Aug. 15.

Others, local people who’ve never met him, said the good things they’ve read about Archbishop Kurtz give them hope for a bright future.

“He was the best pastor we ever had” at Notre Dame of Bethlehem Church in Bethlehem, Pa., said Merl Turzanski. He and his wife are members of the church where Archbishop Kurtz served for three years before becoming bishop of the Knoxville Diocese.

The Turzanskis, an elderly couple who’ve been married for 55 years, drove their RV from Pennsylvania to Louisville for the occasion.

“In the first month he was there (at Notre Dame Church), we knew he wouldn’t be there long,” said Merl Turzanski. The couple have pegged Archbishop Kurtz to become a cardinal. “But we probably won’t get to Rome for that.”

Anne Frey, a retired parish secretary from that church, also sees him advancing further into church leadership.

“He has a wonderful leadership ability,” said Frey, who also came to Louisville for the installation. “He always had an easy time getting volunteers. He’s very gracious, polite and appreciative of help.

“His charisma — you meet him one time and it feels like you’ve known him your whole life,” she added.

Archbishop Kurtz’s sisters, Theresa Bakos and Patricia Cameli, described their brother as studious and holy. But Cameli added, “Of course, he’s silly as heck, too. He has a wonderful sense of humor.”

When it comes to family and friends, his sisters said, he’s no less dedicated than he is to his pastoral duties.

“He’s never missed a baptism in the family,” said Bakos. “He’s such a good brother and uncle.”

Nine of his classmates from high school also attended the installation. Did they see a future archbishop in the teen-ager they knew?

“We just had fun,” said Ruth Ann Smith, who traveled to Louisville from Baltimore. “We were all so close.”

And they still are. He meets these friends every five years for a reunion; he’s never missed one yet, Smith said.

Sherry Morgan, who has worked closely with Archbishop Kurtz as the superintendent of schools for the Knoxville Diocese’s eight parish schools and two diocesan high schools, said she was dreading Archbishop Kurtz’s departure from Knoxville.

“But now, I have a sense of excitement,” she said. “I know God’s working his plans today. It feels right,” she said prior to the installation.

She also said that Archbishop Kurtz is “extremely supportive of Catholic education.”

That was good news to Dr. Mary Lee Lanning, principal of St. Rita School in Okolona.

“I am so enthusiastic about the new archbishop,” said Lanning as she headed into the ceremony. “Everything I’ve heard about him — his work with the poor — impressed me all the way around.”

Ursuline Sister Regina Bevelacqua, director of St. Mary’s Center, Inc., said she is elated at the new archbishop’s history.

“I think he’ll have a heart for the people,” she said.

She also said she relates to Archbishop Kurtz in two ways.

First, she and the new archbishop’s late fathers worked in coal mines. And he knows the value of people with special needs, since he cared for his brother George Kurtz — who had Down syndrome — after his parents died. George Kurtz died just a few years ago and lived with the new archbishop at his bishops’ residence in Knoxville before his death.

Christie Lee Kelty, who attends St. Mary Center, said the archbishop “will love the handicapped because they’re different.”

The Knights of Peter Claver’s Ladies Auxiliary turned out for the event as well. They came from Louisville, Bardstown and Lebanon, Ky.

Louise Penman said that attending the event “is like history in-the-making all over again.”

She attended Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly’s installment 25 years ago in the same location.

“The enthusiasm was as plentiful then as it is now. I hope (the Archdiocese of Louisville) will be good for him, as well as he will be for us,” Penman said.