On Sunday, March 21, 2021, Brian decided he’d had enough. He always said he’d go when he was good and ready!
Brian Clayton Curtis was born on Dec. 2, 1936, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Clayton Curtis and Margaret (Eszrenyi) Curtis. He was married to Cheryl (Bennett) Curtis, who loved everything about him since July 4th of 2000.
He was a loving father to three children: Barry Curtis, Sherri (Curtis) Buckley and Kelly Curtis, whose mother, Marsha (St. John) Curtis, passed in 1999, after 45 years of marriage to her childhood sweetheart. He was a loving stepfather to Cheryl’s children, Kimberlie (Hrisko) Boyles and Matthew Hrisko. He was such a loving grandfather and great-grandfather to a combined total of 10 grandchildren and, as of Feb. 23, the newest of 15 great-grandchildren was born!
Brian had a distinguished career in the United States Coast Guard, retiring after 23 years of service on April 1, 1977. He served as lieutenant commander of the west coast of Florida, based in St. Petersburg. From there, he was stationed in Miami as chief of boating safety standards. He inspected boat manufacturers throughout the Caribbean that were building to U.S. specifications to keep them honest!
Brian was a longtime member of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club (where the above picture was taken). He captained four Gasparilla Pirate Invasions in Tampa on his 48-foot med yacht,“DRIFTWOOD,” to the delight of the invited guest pirates onboard every year!
After retirement, he invested in real estate property, dabbled in the insurance business, then owned his own yacht brokerage/survey company. He and Marsha made trips across the Gulf of Mexico to deliver yachts to their customers. He wouldn’t be caught dead relaxing, playing golf or bingo!
He and son, Barry, built and managed a 10-acre, 49-lot mobile home park that Brian inherited when his father, Clayton Curtis, passed in 1987. Situated on the shores of Lake Erie in Ashtabula County, Ohio (home of Urban Meyer …), the property had been his father’s since 1944. Brian finally retired when he sold the Driftwood Acres Mobile Home Park in 2015.
In 2017, he and Cheryl sold their home in St. Petersburg and moved to St. Marys. Here we discovered a town like the ones we grew up in, with friendly, polite, helpful and sharing friends and neighbors with hearts of gold. We kept pinching each other’s arms because this place was a throwback from another era when people genuinely cared about neighbors and total strangers because that’s what people should do — everywhere, all the time. Thank you, St. Marys, for being so kind and welcoming to Brian and I — you helped make his last three years of life comfortable and at-home.
If you knew Brian Curtis, you’ll never forget him. Many people will remember him for many reasons: a devoted family man; a proud patriot and veteran; an intimidating USCG officer; a fair and honest man; a despiser of liars and cheaters; a helpful, generous man to those in need of help(often anonymously); a feared enemy if you hurt those he loved (or even tried to!) and a man proud to tell you that he could look at the man in the mirror without shame. He will be missed!
Mind your rudder! We will meet again! Amen.
Allison Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.