John Curtis

1934 - 2021

John Russell Curtis was born in Bessemer City North Carolina where he grew up and went to high school. His father, the late James Richard Curtis, owned the neighborhood pharmacy. He spent many hours working in the drug store and interacting with the people in the small town. His mother, the late Nell Williams Curtis, was an avid reader and known to write poetry.
He attended the University of North Carolina where he received a BA in history and later went on to medical school and psychiatric residency.
After college he moved to Lexington Kentucky, where he served in the Public Health Service. He was the head of the men's addiction unit at the Federal Narcotic Hospital, and he served on the faculty at the University of Kentucky.
In 1968 he moved to Athens, Georgia where he became the youngest director of the University Health Service. In his 17 years with the University Health Service, he revamped the program turning it into the best in the Southeast and one of extreme renown in the country.
After leaving the university, he worked at Charter Winds hospital and served as its first medical director. At that time he opened his private practice. In that capacity he touched the lives of many people in northeast Georgia, particularly in the Athens community.
He and his wife, Joan, traveled extensively, particularly to Italy where they made many friends. He is survived by his wife, Joan Curtis, his children, John Russell Curtis, Jr., Elizabeth Curtis (Liz), and Mary Curtis Gray, and his four grandchildren, John Richard Curtis, Emily Gray, Olivia Gray and Evan Dunlap as well as his brother, Donald W. Curtis, and his niece Donna McClatchey both of Raleigh, NC.
Donations in his memory can be sent to his much-loved church, St. Gregory the Great, 3195 Barnett Shoals Road, Athens. GA 30605. Or give online at https://www.stgregoryathens.org/giving-to-st-gregorys