DARWIN CURTIS

1926 - 2020

CURTIS Darwin O'Ryan Curtis September 7, 1926 - November 5, 2020 Darwin Curtis, grandson of World War I General John F. O'Ryan, found duty and service to country his calling, too. Dar first served his country in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II and was recruited by the Foreign Service after he graduated from Princeton University in 1948. He married Ann Warren Kingman the following year and cherished her long after her death in 1993. The couple had three sons, Randall, John, and Stephen, and one daughter, Lee. The Curtis family accompanied Dar to posts in Greece, Vietnam, Washington, D.C., Algeria and France. Dar retired to Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1983 and during the following years explored other ways he might contribute to society while caring for his beloved ailing wife. Using the insights he gained from living in Asia and Africa, Dar became an advocate for solar cooking as a way to address the problems associated with the use of firewood for cooking in much of the developing world. These include the violence committed against women when they venture out to gather fuelwood, the respiratory illnesses they suffer, and deforestation. In 1991 he published a watershed global analysis of solar cooking's potential. In 1998, with his dear friend, Louise Meyer, and the late Dr. Barbara Knudson, Dar co-founded the non-profit Solar Household Energy, Inc., "to unleash the potential of solar cooking to improve social, economic and environmental conditions in sun-rich areas around the world." He wasn't just an advocate. Working from Dar's designs, engineers at the Florida Solar Energy Center developed a cooker that could be made and distributed for $27. It was named the HotPot. By 2004, Curtis located a Mexican company to manufacture them. An inveterate storyteller, Dar also wrote books on a range of topics, including the invention of the steamboat, The Rumseian Experiment; the invention of hot air balloons, Up: First Flight; a touching first-hand account of the 50th anniversary of the landing in Normandy, Return and Remembrance; and his riveting memoir, My Lucky Life. In 1995, Dar reunited with his high school sweetheart, renowned Washington D.C. artist Lindsay Makepeace, at their 50th class reunion. She remained Dar's loving companion until her death in 2015. The relationship lives on in the close ties between their families. Dar moved to Fox Hill in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2018 and immediately began enjoying his fellow residents as much as they enjoyed him. An only child, Dar relished his family and delighted in the regular reunions that drew Curtises from all over the world. His enthusiasm and joy for all of the generations fostered a closeness rare in such a large and spread out family. He is survived and adored by his children and daughters-in-law Caroline and Denise; nephew Charles Palmer and wife Gari; cousin Mieke Bomann and partner Jeff; unofficially adopted son Morand Fachot; grandchildren Matthew, Nicholas, Simon, Laura, Thomas, John, Ethan and William, and their spouses Tracy, Kristin, Tamsyn, Janina, Alyssa and George; and his great-grandchildren James, Ruby, Theodore, Finnley, Lillian, Noah, Alexander, Zoe and Dorothy. Details of Dar's Arlington Cemetery memorial service to be announced. For those wishing to leave their remembrances for the family please do so here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/silver-spring-md/darwin-curtis-9891850 Instead of flowers, well-wishers are asked to consider a contribution to any of the following organizations: Solar Household Energy, Inc. (http://www.she-inc.org) Montgomery Hospice (https://montgomeryhospice.org/) Iona Senior Services (https://www.Iona.org)Iona Senior Services (https://www.Iona.org)