Thelma Juanetta Curtis

Thelma was born September 4, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Cleone and Henry Smith. Her brother was born four and a half years later. She graduated from high school in 1927 when she was 16 years old. She went to work for Dr. Harper DDS and learned dental nursing. A patient came in to have a tooth pulled and said to the doctor, “I’ll have my tooth out if your little nurse will hold my hand. This was to be her husband in the future. She married Joseph Curtis November 20, 1929 and they spent their honeymoon in California. They returned to Missouri where her two sons were born, Myron and Joseph sixteen months apart. The family moved to San Diego in 1945, where she has lived since she was employed by three auto dealerships for several years and also worked as a dental nurse until World War II came along. She worked for Security Pacific National bank for 18 years, she retired at sixty-five. She then joined a Senior group where she performed in skits and plays and was a soloist for 15 years. She played the organ for church for 30 years. Her husband Joseph passed away in 1970. She took care of her widowed mother for eight years before her death in 1988. Her son Myron passed away in 2010; she is survived by her son Joseph, 9 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren & 21 great great grandchildren. She will be buried next to her husband and son at Greenwood Memorial Park.