Riley Howell Curtis Jr. - Submitted for the USGenWeb by Richard P. Sevier 7/18/2009 USGenWeb NOTICE: All documents placed in the USGenWeb remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities, when written permission is obtained from the contributor, so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. ************************************************************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************************************ Riley Howell Curtis Jr. - Madison Parish, Louisiana From Greensboro, NC News-Record July 18, 2009 SMYRNA, GA — Mr. Riley Howell Curtis Jr., 84, of Smyrna, Georgia, passed away quietly on Thursday, July 16, 2009, after a short illness, at Emory Adventist Hospital, surrounded by his family in Smyrna. Funeral services Mr. Curtis Jr., will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 19, at the Dignity Georgia Memorial Gardens Chapel in Marietta, Georgia, with Rev. Jim Mitchell of Smyrna First United Methodist Church officiating. The burial will follow in Georgia Memorial Cemetery. Friends may visit from 6 until 8 p.m. tonight, Saturday, July 18, at the Georgia Memorial Funeral Home. Services are under the direction of the Dignity Georgia Memorial Funeral Home. He was born in March of 1925 in Many, Louisiana, the parish seat of Sabine Parish. His parents, Riley H. Curtis and Mae Russ Curtis, moved from the Many farm to Tallulah during the depression to find work. He spent his childhood to adulthood in Tallulah, Louisiana, and graduated from high school there. His mother's family, the Russ Family, founded Ruston, Louisiana, in Lincoln Parish, now the home of Louisiana Tech University. Many of his extended family still reside in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia. In 1939, he landed a job with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, and then started freshman year at LSU Monroe in 1941, in Chemical Engineering. He joined the United States Navy on his birthday, March 16, 1943. He became a Naval Air Force Cadet and trained at many locations across the United States, flying the Stearman Trainers and PBY Catalinas, the American flying boat. He loved flying and continued aviation as a hobby for the rest of his life. On September 26, 1945, he received his honorable discharge. He graduated from Louisiana State University, home of the Tigers, as a member of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He began work with Eastern Air Lines in May of 1949 and later began a long-time career with the Defense Department until his retirement. He was a delightful and charming storyteller in the Cajun tradition and well respected and loved by all who met and knew him. He self-published the Curtis and Russ Genealogy, was a prolific collector of Civil War guns and artifacts and was an expert on Civil War history. He was a true Southern gentleman and the last of a special generation whose creed was "God, Duty, Honor, Family and Country." We know that he has truly crossed the river and is resting on the other side. His wife, Betty Curtis, predeceased him. He is survived by his children, Ramona Gay McCary, Tisa Curtis Wible, Riley Howell Curtis III, and his step-grandson, Lewis Curtis.