Jesse Duckworth (Dee) Curtis was born March 29, 1927, in Salt Lake City Utah, the eldest son of Jesse and LaVelle Curtis, On June 16th, 2015 at the age of 88, Dee died peacefully at home with his devoted wife at his side.
After graduating from East High School in SLC, Dee enlisted in the Navy during WWll. In 1947, Dee served an LDS mission to war-torn Holland for 2 Ω years. He later attended Brigham Young University, where he made life-long friends in the Bricker's fraternity.
Through the want ads at BYU, he met Hazel Dawn Ream and they married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1955. Together they reared four children in the foothills of Mt. Olympus. Professionally, Dee owned an insurance agency with his father for over 40 years and served as president of the SLC Insurance Agent's Association.
Dee kept busy in retirement while serving missions with his wife to Bermuda in1996, the Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters in1999 and later the LDS Employment Office. He also held the position of President of the Brigham Young Family Association.
Dee was one of life's greatest participants. He will be remembered as an adventurer, a comedian, a lover of the outdoors, and a memory-maker. He loved family, ice cream, and burnt toast. Dee was an instant best friend to those that met him; waiters, taxicab drivers, and cashiers would all agree that he had the ability to shrink the world, and make you feel as if you were the most important person he had ever met… that no moment was greater than the one he was sharing with you. He was an everlasting soldier for optimism. He was a champion of offering second chances.
Dee is survived by his wife, Dawn, and four children; Camille Foster (Tom), Kristie McLeod (Mark), John Curtis (Sue), Kitt Curtis (Jodie); 22 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren; siblings, Susan Porter (Gordon) and Jerry Curtis. Services will be held Monday, June 22, 2015, at 11:00 am at the Neff\s Canyon Ward, 4176 Adonis Drive (4176 South) and Gary Road (3930 East), Salt Lake City. The viewing will be Sunday night from 6:00-8:00 pm and Monday morning from 9:30-10:30 am at the same location. Interment: Wasatch Lawn Cemetery, 1750 East 3300 South, Salt Lake City. Condolences can be shared at www.larkinmortuary.com. In lieu of flowers the family has requested donations be made to Dee's three grandchildren serving LDS missions. Donations can be made at any Zions Bank to the "Dee Curtis Donation Account."
