Ken Carter, Chaplain, Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada (Ontario), announced on Friday the appointment of Keren Harris Kurz as a director-at-large to his Chaplaincy's board of directors.

Harris Kurz, a transplanted Brit, is a resident of Fournier, Ontario, married and a mother of three. At age 16, she received her groom's license and worked with standardbreds at the Milton Fairgrounds before heading off to the University of Ottawa, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Honours History degree in 1997. She worked in historical research at the University of Ottawa, the R.C.M.P. and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs before becoming the Equipment Judge at Ottawa's Rideau Carleton Raceway in 2011. In 2013, she enrolled at Toronto's Humber College for the Funeral Services Program and graduated in June 2015. She is now a Class 1 licensed Funeral Director and currently employed by the Daniels Funeral Chapels in Winchester, Ontario.

Harris Kurz will join a group of nine volunteer directors for Chaplain Carter's non denominational, non profit charity dedicated to providing for the emotional, physical, spiritual and human needs of the horse racing work force in southwestern Ontario.

"She is very personable and has a good knowledge of the horse racing industry," said Chaplain Carter. "It is a great opportunity to have Keren as a contact person in the Ottawa area, and as a funeral director she is well equipped for grief and trauma counseling. I feel she will be a great asset to the work of the chaplaincy."

(With files from Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada)