Curtis Allen Bland

Curt died May 11, 2015 at the age of 90 in Oak Harbor, WA. He was raised in Jackson, Michigan by his adoptive parents William M. and Irene (Richardson) Bland. The day after he graduated from Jackson High School in January, 1943 he immediately entered the United States Navy. He was sent overseas to Clark Field in the Philippines in April 1945 where he flew one mission against the Japanese as a tail gunner on a PB4Y2. After his honorable discharge he found it difficult to find work, competing with thousands of other young men following World War II. Having a wife (Laurel LeMieux Bland ) and young daughter, he re-entered the service, this time in the U.S. Coast Guard flying search and rescue missions on the Great Lakes as a flight engineer on PBY-5s. Because of his daughter’s precarious health, he needed to be stationed in a different climate so Curt transferred to the U.S. Air Force in December 1947. He flew 53 combat missions over Korea in a B-29 as a Central Fire Controller between August 1950 and March 1951 and was awarded the air medal with four clusters. He later flew with the Strategic Air Command and became involved in base education. After attending night school, he earned a B. Ed in May 1962 from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. When Curt retired from the USAF as a Master Sergeant in 1963 he went to work for the Anchorage Borough School District, soon becoming chairman of the social studies department at West Anchorage High School. He earned an M. Ed. From the U. of Alaska in 1966 and M.A in economics from the U. of Illinois in 1970.

Curt actively served with the Anchorage Borough Education Association (city) and the Alaska Education Association (state) and was frequently asked by students (most of whom adored him) to be senior class advisor and student council advisor. He married a fellow teacher at West, Barbara Ann Kilb, in 1972. Curt and Barb retired from teaching in June 1980 and moved to a home they had purchased outside of Oak Harbor when they crewed on a friend’s sailboat from Seward, Alaska to Victoria, B.C. in 1978. While having their own sailboat built on Orcas Island, Curt became totally immersed in the Oak Harbor Yacht Club, serving as Commodore 1983-1985 when the yacht club building was constructed and Whidbey Island Race Week begun. He continued to work Race Week for the OHYC for several more years, then served as President of Whidbey Golf and Country Club (now Whidbey Golf Club) in 1991. Curt was an avid pet lover, reader, golfer and bridge player. He is survived by his beloved wife, Barb, of Oak Harbor; his daughter Laurel K. Eisinger of Draper, Utah; his son, Daniel M. Bland, of Grants, N.M.; grandsons Scott and Christopher Eisinger. Contributions in his memory can be donated to Oak Harbor Friends of the Library and to WAIF. Details of a memorial party to follow.