Rev. Charles M. Curtis

Rev. Charles M. Curtis, retired United Methodist pastor, was a Kansan by birth and by choice. He was known across the state and throughout the Church as an outstanding speaker and courageous advocate for justice, peace, and joyful life. Charles was born on December 13, 1924, in Belleville, KS, to William and Beulah (Hobson) Curtis as the youngest of four children and the only boy. He spent his early life on the family farm in Republic County and saw himself as the product of a home where a vital faith, good books, and great music were the stuff of life. His three older sisters, Ruth Curtis, Frances Behnke, and Ardith Leslie, often claimed to have spoiled their younger brother-although Charles would beg to differ. Charles graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University (Salina), received his Master of Divinity from Drew University (New Jersey) and in later returned to school to earn a Master of Arts in Evangelism from Scarritt College in Nashville. Education was central to all that he did; he never stopped learning. Ordained in 1954, he pastored United Methodist churches in Berkshire Valley (NJ), Conway Springs, Anthony, West Heights in Wichita, University Church in Wichita, Dodge City, Mount Vernon in Wichita, and Halstead, all in Kansas. He also served as the Hays area UMC District Superintendent. He took part in fifteen New Life, New World, and Key Event Missions for the Board of Discipleship in nine states, Australia, and Fiji. Charles was active in the ecumenical movement at many levels and devoted his life to the Church that he loved, serving as delegate to the Uniting Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1968, as well as to several other General and jurisdictional conferences. In 1985 he was stricken with Guillain Barré and left the active ministry on disability, eventually taking early retirement in 1990. Charles was a social and political advocate against injustice of all sorts. He was a founding director of Valley Hope Alcoholic Treatment Center, served as an organizational member of the Wichita Consumers Utility Rights Board, protested the Vietnam War in his clerical garb, and withstood threats against his family to advocate for fair housing. He was never afraid to stand up and speak his mind to those who needed to hear. While singing in the choir at Kansas Wesleyan University, Charles met his life's love, Betty Jean Feldmann. Their first date was at Niagara Falls, and fall he did. They were married on June 15, 1951, exchanging rings they would each wear for the next 60 years inscribed with the words "We Three." God would bless them with four children, Craig (Susan) Curtis, Marsha (Chuck) Hussung, Brent (Lesley) Curtis, Emalee (Michael) McCafferty. Eight grandchildren would follow, Andrew Curtis, John and William Hussung, Sydney and Graham Curtis, and Cullen, Gavin, and Maureen McCafferty. Charles was a romantic husband, playful and entertaining father and grandfather, poet, theologian, lover of doggerel. He quoted Shakespeare and Ogden Nash, sang Handel and ditties. He was never satisfied with the original words of anything and could "improve" any song off the cuff. Charles gave Betty an orchid corsage for every occasion and once surprised her on her birthday with a spontaneous performance by the Capital Quartet. She wears unique and beautiful jewelry that Charles could never resist. He loved new places, interesting people, unusual experiences, and he and Betty traveled widely and often. While he eventually needed a wheelchair to navigate the world, he never allowed it to diminish his love of life. Charles passed peacefully from this life to the next on January 3, 2012, at home. He leaves behind a loving wife, children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, cousins, and many brothers and sisters in Christ. We in the family will always think of him looking ahead. He once said, "Affirming that the Christian life and ordination in the Church is for life, in both purpose and in time, I consider myself as a futurist as only a Christian can. I look forward to much adventure in growth and grace in the years ahead." Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, to be a light to lighten the nations, and to be the glory of thy people, Israel. Nunc dimittis, Luke 2:29-32