Thomas Lee Curtis

1944 - 2023

Thomas Lee Curtis, age 78, passed away on Jan. 9, 2023 at his home in Culver, Indiana.
Tom was born on Sept. 7, 1944 in Plymouth, Indiana to Forrest and Mildred Curtis of Culver, Indiana. Tom graduated from Culver High School in 1962 and then in 1967 earned a B.S. in Psychology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Tom enlisted in the United States Air Force during his last semester at Purdue. He served in the enlisted ranks for his first two years and was then commissioned in 1969 as a Second Lieutenant after graduating from the Air Force Officer Training School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
In the subsequent years, Tom graduated from the Undergraduate Navigator Training course; KC-135A air refueling tanker aircraft navigator training; AC-130A gunship fire control officer training; basic, water, and jungle survival courses; the Squadron Officer School Resident Course; and the Air Command and Staff College Resident Course, among others.
Tom earned basic, senior, and master navigator wings and flew over 3,000 hours on KC-135A tanker, AC-130A gunship, and EC-135 airborne command post aircraft, with over 500 Southeast Asia combat flying hours on the AC-130A and KC-135A aircraft. He was also an instructor navigator and standardization/evaluation navigator.
Tom also became an Air Operations Officer and served for two and a half years as the scheduling officer for the Strategic Air Command's 24-hour-per-day, 365-day-per-year "Looking Glass" Airborne Command Post operation at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. Tom also served for four and a half years as the Airfield Manager at Sembach Air Base in Germany.
Following his recovery from a heart attack, Tom became an Air Force Acquisition Management Officer at the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Program Office at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts.
Other bases at which Tom was stationed included: Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota (KC-135A); Ubon Royal Thai Airbase, Thailand (AC-130A); Lockbourne (later Rickenbacker) Air Force Base, Ohio (KC-135A); RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom (EC-135); Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama (ACSC); and Griffiss Air Force Base, New York (KC-135A).
Tom retired from the Air Force as a Major on July 1, 1987. His decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal W/7 OLC, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award W/Valor Device, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross.
After leaving Culver in 1963, Tom traveled completely around the globe, and to 23 different countries and all 50 states, knowing all the while that Culver was his home and that he would return there. These travels were primarily from Tom's 20 years of active duty service in the Air Force at various bases around the world, as well as his 24 years of work as an Air Force support contractor at the AWACS Program Office at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. During his years at Hanscom, Tom worked on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) AWACS programs with personnel from 16 different NATO nations and several defense contractors, including Boeing, IBM Federal Systems Division, Westinghouse, Northrop Grumman, and L-3 Communications. Tom fully retired in 2011.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Forrest and Mildred Curtis, and his older brother, Stanley Curtis. He is survived by his former wife, Edeltraud Baumbach, of Sahuarita, Arizona; former wife, Dorothy Curtis, of Attleboro, Massachusetts; two brothers: David Curtis of Pawleys Island, South Carolina and Lindon Curtis of Cumming, Georgia; one sister: Colleen (Curtis) Grozdanovski of Pensacola, Florida; three sons: Jason Curtis and his wife, Angela Curtis, of Munich, Germany, Stephen Curtis and his wife, Abby Curtis, of Spokane, Washington, and Michael Curtis and his wife, Pauline Nguyen, of Franklin, Massachusetts; two stepdaughters: Connie Gumulauskis Scammel of Hereford, Arizona; and Iris Gumulauskis Linder of Lititz, Pennsylvania; three grandsons: Eric Hall, Ulrich Linder, and Cameron Nguyen-Curtis; three granddaughters: Erin Schlax, Adrianna Curtis, and Alexis Curtis; three great grandsons: Ethan Schlax, Owen Schlax, and Ben Schlax; two nephews: Iain Curtis and Andrew Curtis; and two nieces: Margaret Curtis-Brown and Frances Belton. Tom is also survived by a number of beloved cousins and extended family members.
His funeral, to which relatives and friends are most kindly invited to attend, will be held at Wesley United Methodist Church, 511 School Street, Culver, IN on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 beginning at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Poplar Grove United Methodist Church on State Road 10. A celebration of life gathering will then be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Tom's favorite restaurant, The Lakehouse Grille, where "Tom's Chicken" will be served. All are welcome to attend.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association.
To send Tom's family a message of condolence or remembrance, please email Odom Funeral Home at office@odomfuneralhome.net.