Jerry James Curtis was born in Hudson, KS, the only child of Edwin John and Clara Emma (Spangenberg) Curtis, who were farmers and descendants from homesteaders who had emigrated from Germany in the mid 1800s. At five he had a severe case of pneumonia and, in order to drain his lungs, one of his ribs was removed. Because of that he was never to play serious contact sports. Growing up in the Dust Bowl during the Depression, he remembered dust storms and the dust coming through the window cracks and the family having to cover their faces with handkerchiefs. For later schooling he drove a number of miles to the Stafford, KS high school. There, he was a member of the Debate Team (it won the State Championship) and joined the Hi-Y Club. He graduated in 1948 as president of his class and was selected for the National Honor Society. He attended Washburn University in Topeka, KS for one year (joining the Naval ROTC program) and then the University of New Mexico for one semester.

  Jerry received an appointment from the 5th District of Kansas, entered USMA on July 5, 1950 and was assigned to Company M-1. He was active in several clubs (e.g., French, Russian, camera, ski and the Debate Council). He was also elected by his company-mates to the General Committee. He was a popular cadet, as reflected in his Howitzer write-up, which stated in part, “His sincerity, coupled with a good sense of humor, made it a pleasure to be associated with him.” He graduated on June 8, 1954, and the same day he was married to Theresa Fazio.

Branching Infantry, Jerry’s first assignment was to the Basic Infantry School at Fort Benning, GA. He also finished the rigorous Airborne School and then Ranger training. He then became a platoon leader in the 4th Bn. of the 3rd Inf. Div. While stationed at Fort Benning, daughter Ann was born in August 1955 and son Paul was born in December 1956. In 1957, Jerry decided to resign his commission and entered Georgia Tech. In 1959 he graduated with a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He moved his family to Willingboro, NJ and took a position with  RCA  in  Camden,  NJ as an electrical engineer in its Applied Research Division. Son Christopher was born in March 1961, and daughter Lea was born in November 1963. In 1965, Jerry was elevated to Staff Engineer and became heavily involved with electronic warfare, communications and surveillance systems, much of it with classified government contracts. During this period, Jerry’s parents retired from their farm in Kansas and moved to Willingboro to be near their son and his growing family. Jerry passed his love of the outdoors on to his children, taking them hiking, bicycling, fishing, skiing, ice skating, camping and canoeing. He also took them on visits to the Jersey shore on fun-filled vacations. His love of reading was shared via weekly visits to the town library. His pride in his alma mater, West Point, was evident in the many times he took the family to the annual Army-Navy Game in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, in 1975 Theresa and Jerry parted ways, but in 1977 Jerry married Jean Kimball Dunn, a local school teacher. They later moved to Burlington, NJ. In 1985, General Electric bought the RCA research division but continued its government work. In 1991, Jerry retired from GE. Jean and Jerry bought a second home in Cudjoe Key, FL, and they enjoyed many winters there, swimming, boating and, particularly, deep-sea fishing.

In November 2013, Jerry suffered a bad fall in his home. After an examination by his doctor, he was moved in January 2014 to a hospital in Philadelphia where he underwent triple by-pass surgery and also an aortic valve replacement. Initially, his recovery went well, but after several months his health began to deteriorate and eventually led to his untimely death. Survivors include Jean; son Paul, now a dermatologist in Springfield, MA; son Christopher, a chemical engineer with Exxon in Houston; and daughter Lea, who received a degree in computer science from Rutgers and was a computer programmer. She is now at home raising three children but writes for a newspaper. Jerry is also survived by seven grandchildren, all who have, are or will pursue a college education encouraged by their loving grandfather’s successful life.

                 — Jean Curtis and family, and

Jack Charles, companymate.