Born in New York City, Kurt prepared for Yale at Deerfield Academy. He was a Political Science Honors major, a ranking scholar and on the Dean's List. He was a member of Pierson where he played on the soccer team, and of St. Anthony's Hall, Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Union and Dwight Hall. He played Freshman soccer and lacrosse and Varsity soccer for two years and Varsity lacrosse for one.

Following Yale, Kurt attended Harvard Law School, earning his LL.B. in 1965. He joined the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and rose to partnership. Kurt was unique among his peers, as both an accomplished litigator and a sage corporate lawyer. He pursued his demanding profession throughout the country where his cases and clients took him, renowned as a fierce competitor, with a sense of humor and playfulness tempering his total dedication to client and cause.

Kurt retired from the practice in 1991. As a youth he had spent many summers at the CM Ranch in Dubois, Wyoming. After his retirement, he moved to Dubois and purchased a ranch, where he resided with his wife Louise, son Keith and daughters Carolyn and Katherine Koegler Loucks (Yale College, 1996). He also had two stepsons, Troy and Gray Duncan.

Kurt was a collector of Native American photographs and was an expert in the field. He had over 300 original photographs from the immediate post-Civil War era through the early years of the 20th century. It constituted one of the largest, if not the largest, private collections in the United States. He was a generous benefactor of Deerfield, Yale and Harvard. As one of its most active and loyal sons, Deerfield has honored his memory with the Kurt Koegler Scholarship Fund, Class of 1958.

In the memorial service for Kurt, a former colleague, now Dean of the Fordham Law School, paid him tribute as, "philosophical, whimsical, learned, honest to the core and human . . . always so full of life."

His daughter Katherine reports that at the time of his death Kurt was planning to reenter the practice of law in partnership with a friend in Jackson, Wyoming. However, he died before he could resume.

In addition to his widow, children and stepchildren, Kurt was survived by his mother Elmerita Koegler, sister Carol Tilley, and two nieces, Jennifer Farlow and Cynthia Cavo.

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