Eston Gene Curtis' Obituary
Eston Gene Curtis Sr., age 81, formerly of Jerome, passed away Monday, January 16, 2023, at Wayne County Hospital in Corydon, Iowa.
Gene was born on March 3, 1941 in Promise City, Iowa, the son of Eston D. and Ethel Leola (Poe) Curtis. He was the father of Gene Jr., Daniel, Terry, Chad, Debbie Sue, Ann and Amy. He is survived by brothers, Lloyd Curtis, Timothy Curtis and sisters, Joan Galbreath, Thelma Curtis, and Elaine Recoy. He had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A special thank you to Sylvia Conn for being Dad's angel and standing by him.
"Dear Dad, I think this has been the hardest thing I've ever had to write. Even now, tears roll relentlessly upon these words and words seem impossible to express the feelings of anger, incredible sadness, and relief. The anger is from our pride, robbing us from the limited time in this world. The sadness is the hole I feel knowing that we can never make up this time apart. The relief is knowing that you will never have to feel pain or loneliness again because I know that you experienced this. We may have been prideful children but you were our protector, our hero when we were little and I think my siblings would agree with me but we have some good memories of you when we were young. Time split us apart as we got older.
When we were lost and needed to come home, you brought us home. When we were sick, you hugged us. When you were sad and afraid, you cried. It taught us compassion. You passed your stubbornness onto us but you made us into survivors. We didn't back down. We stood against the strong winds of adversity and survived. We may have been a bit beaten up but never beaten down.
When I think of you happy, you are playing your guitar or holding your grandchildren. Trying to catch our toes with your pliers or putting me on your shoulders and walking down the train tracks while the sun was setting. I remember putting on your work boots and thinking that I'll never be big enough to fit these shoes. We grew up, Dad. We all filled our shoes according to the size we had to be for our families. I know our experiences are all different but I hope that we all know that you loved us. It may not have been perfect but it was human. And sometimes it's the imperfect things that make life perfect."
Gene was preceded in death by his parents, brothers, Robert Eston Curtis, David Ray Curtis, sisters, Virginia Leola Corbett and Arlene Nichols- Easton.
Since Gene wanted to be cremated, family services will be determined at a later date. Memorials may be mailed to Thomas Funeral Home, ATTN: Curtis Family, 501 North 18th Street Centerville, IA 52544. Condolences may be shared online at www.thomasfh.com.
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