Curtis Seth Heinrich

Curtis Seth Heinrich, MD was born September 8, 1941 to the Rev. Max Carl George Heinrich and Melanie Schwarzlose Heinrich at the Nix Hospital in downtown San Antonio. He was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church, where his father served as pastor from 1933 to 1967. Curtis graduated from Jefferson High School in 1959, then attended Texas Lutheran College in Seguin, where he met his future bride, Bette Nelson.

Curtis and Bette married August 17, 1963 at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Austin following Curtis‘s first year of medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. After medical school, Curtis served as a captain in the Air Force, serving in the medical corps at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota before they settled in San Antonio permanently in 1970.

Curtis practiced emergency medicine at Santa Rosa Hospital in downtown San Antonio for many years, followed by a number of years at McKenna Memorial Hospital in New Braunfels. Despite complications from brain cancer ending his medical career in 1996, Curtis was able to enjoy many additional years with his family and friends. He especially enjoyed and appreciated Don Farrimond and Franklin Redmond driving him to his ranch at Sisterdale, Texas.

In addition to working his ranch, Curtis loved hunting deer, turkey, quail and pheasant in Texas and going on elk and mule deer hunts in Colorado and Wyoming. He also enjoyed many years fishing the Texas coastal bays from Galveston to Baffin Bay and the Land Cut. Curtis was devoted to his wife, children, and grandchildren, attending many of their games and performances.

Curtis was preceded in death by Bette, his wife of 55 years; his sister, Maxine Heinrich Amplatz of St. Paul, Minn.; brother-in-law, Gerald Evetts of Bandera; and brother-in-law, Philip Nelson, Jr., of Austin. He is survived by his son Michael and wife Laura Heinrich and their children, Kate and Nelson of San Antonio; daughter Katherine Heinrich and husband Phil Gallagher and their son Philip of Houston; and daughter Melanie and her husband Danny Savitz and their children, Anna, Eric, and Claire, also of Houston. Curtis is also survived by his sister, Dorothy Heinrich Evetts of Bandera; sister-in-law, Katherine Barlow Nelson of Austin; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

Curtis will be laid to rest at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery the morning of Friday, August 13 in a private ceremony followed by a celebration of his life at 11:30 a.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 510 Belknap Place. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation.

Click here to view the livestream of Curtis' service.