Obit of Curtis, Dr. James H. - Stephens County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 10 Jul 2005 Return to Stephens County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/stephens/stephens.htm ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== Curtis, Dr. James H. Dr. James H. Curtis left this earth to be with his heavenly Father on Friday, February 21, 2003, at 4:30 pm at the age of 79. Dr. Curtis was born on January 11, 1924, to parents William Calvin and Susie Belle (McDaniel) Curtis. He was the 10th of 12 children. When he was 3 years of age, Dr. Curtis and his family moved to Marlow, OK. He attended Capitol Hill Church of God where Bro. Chestnut was his pastor. He held his first revival at the age of 17 at a little Church of God on Shields Blvd. He worked in the CC Camp, and then moved to Houston where he joined the Merchant Marines. One of his shipmates was Bob Henry who introduced James to his sister Helen. They were married in Florida in April of 1946 and went on to live 5 years in California. Dr. Curtis's first pastorate was in Espanola, NM. He then pastored 2 years in Las Cruces, NM, then moved the family to Los Alamos, NM, and did fulltime evangelistic work for three years. In 1958 he accepted his first full-time pastorate at the First Church of God in Odessa, TX. It was there that he became acquainted with Gulf Coast Bible College and as Chairman of the West Texas District, he was automatically on the Board of Trustees. In 1966 he and Helen moved to Dallas, TX, where he pastored until 1975. In March 1975, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Gulf Coast Bible College. Dr. Curtis's last pastorate was at Montgomery Place Church of God in Albuquerque, NM, where he served until 1982. From 1982 to 1997, Dr. Curtis was a full-time evangelist. He averaged 40 meetings a year with an average of 5 commitments per meeting. In those 15 years of evangelism there were at least 3,000 commitments. He also averaged 40,000 miles per year on his car. In 1998 he and Helen gave their home in Albuquerque to Mid-America Bible College in Oklahoma City who in turn built them a home on the MBC campus. He served as the campus pastor for one year and then became Director of Special Projects. He along with his family attended Shartel Church of God. Ever since 1958 Dr Curtis represented GBC/MBC in every revival and camp meeting, always working to recruit students and raise money. His work took him to Australia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Hawaii, Alaska, and New Zealand where he was instrumental in assisting David Ravell in starting the church. He is survived by his wife, Helen, their daughter Deanne Mowry and her husband Barry, son Jim and his wife Lily, 7 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, 1 great granddaughter, 3 brothers, Bill, Lester, and Bodie, a sister Cleta Phillips, and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins not to mention friends around the world! The family will receive friends for visitation on Sunday and Monday evenings from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Vondel L Smith & Son Mortuary. His funeral service will be Tuesday, February 25, 2003, at 2:00 pm at Mid-America Bible College. Pallbearers will be his grandsons Kelly, Kyle, Koby, Scott, Rustin, and Matthew. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to Mid-America Bible College, 3500 SW 119th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73170, in Dr. Curtis's name. VONDEL L. SMITH & SON MORTUARY 6934 S. Western 634- 1439 Published in the Oklahoman on 2/23/2003. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Stephens County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/stephens/stephens.htm