Carol Jane Curtis

Carol was born on July 2, 1939, in Arlington, Indiana. The youngest child of Owen and Mariah (Mae) Long. Carol grew up in Indiana alongside her five older siblings, in the home her father built for the family. In her younger years Carol was involved in dance, took piano lessons, played in the school band, was a cheerleader and majorette, and participated in the 4-H Club. One of Carol’s fondest memories was her sixteenth birthday, when she and her older sister Patricia (Patty), took a trip to Indianapolis and had dinner and then to see Elvis live in concert. Carol was very close to her parents, siblings and extended family. Speaking frequently with her childhood friends, and several family members up until her passing.

Carol married Dwight (Larry) Reynolds at the age of seventeen, and they had four children: Larry, Gary, Barry and Kari. Her nightly prayer when her children were young was, “please let me live to see them grown”. She enjoyed living in several places all over the country. Her final stop would be Colorado, where she remained for almost 50 years.

Carol remarried Raymond (Ray) Curtis, Sr., and became a stepmother to Raymond Jr. and Brian. They shared a love of travel and family. Their first trip together was Las Vegas, so it was only fitting that they married in that same place in a little chapel on the Vegas Strip. Carol and Ray shared their home in Aurora, Colorado until Ray’s passing in 2007.

Carol was a grandmother to thirteen and a great-grandmother to fifteen. She once wrote that her favorite moment of being a grandparent was “every moment that I get to be with each of them”. And that becoming a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother was a dream come true, and her greatest accomplishment.

Carol lived her life with so much love and care for those around her. She was strong-willed, funny, smart, loving, supportive, beautiful, and kind. Our family will feel this profound loss forever, but comforted by the time we had with her, and the memories created with her.

Carol is preceded in death by her husband, Raymond Curtis, Sr., and oldest son, Lawrence (Larry) Reynolds and stepson Brian Curtis. She is survived by her children, sons, Gary (Marie) and Barry (Lucy) and daughter, Kari. And her wonderful grandchildren, great-grandchildren and extended family members.

And as Carol’s favorite singer, Elvis Presley once said, “I believe the key to happiness is: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to”.