EARL AND MARY CURTIS

Earl and Mary Deans Curtis were married May 13, 1950, in the home of Mary's parents in Davenport, Oklahoma, with only the immediate family and a few close friends in attendance. They purchased their first home there-a small two-bedroom house with a one-car, attached garage.  They were the first occupants and the total price was $4,000.  The mortgage payments, which included principal, interest, and taxes, were $39 a month.

Mary had been born at home on a stormy night, July 22, 1925.  She was raised in Davenport, Oklahoma, lived in the same house and attended grades one through 12 in the Davenport school system.

Earl had found Mary's father, Henry Deans, a most interesting man. "His life would be worthy of a book, all by itself" He had grown up in the Greensboro, North Carolina, area. When he was 21, his father told him he was old enough to be on his own, and sent him to a farm his father owned in Kansas.  He told of the terrible loneliness of being separated from family and friends, which was made worse by disastrous weather and a complete crop failure.  This caused him to be very interested when he learned of the possibility of settlement in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma had originally been Indian territory.  The "Sooner" nickname was applied because, when it was decided to open the state for population, there were some who illegally, literally jumped the gun.  A line was drawn and a signal for moving was to be given, but they cheated and slipped over the line to have the advantage of getting the choice land.  Films re-enacting that first run show men on foot, on horseback, and by every imaginable means to get in ahead of the others to stake out a claim to Oklahoma land sooner than the law allowed.  The first run for the homesteads of 160 acres each was April 22, 1889.

Henry was not a part of the first run, certainly not of the "sooners".  "He never did a dishonest thing in his entire life." However, he went shortly after the first run.  For a time he owned a candy store and worked on a farm where Oklahoma City presently stands.  He told of harvesting wheat on what is now Broadway Street.

Henry homesteaded his land on the second run.  He staked out a claim, but when someone else said they had laid claim to it first, he didn't argue but moved farther east, to land which included what became Lincoln County.  When another man approached him, alleging that he had staked it first, Henry said that he was sure he was right but to avoid any trouble, he asked the man what he would take to get on his horse and leave him alone.  The man was willing to do that for $20, which Henry didn't have.  However, he had $10 and offered him that and his pocket watch. The man accepted, took the money and watch, got on his horse and left, never bothering Henry again. It turned out to be an advantage that Henry got the second property, because years later they drilled for oil on both sites.  On the first, there was no production.  On Henry's, they were successful. Later, in the 1940's, they  drilled  again for  several wells,  and one of them is still producing.  Mary still gets an occasional check for $25 or $30 from the wells.

Henry went through a lot, however.  For a time he had nothing to eat but what he raised and not a cent of money.  Davenport was just a little trading center, but there was a point at which Henry was so tired of being broke that he gathered up some feeding stuff, went into Davenport  and traded it for 25¢ just to have money in his pocket.  He lived in a dug-out, and then in a log cabin, which he later built onto for a home.

Henry fell in love with Mary's mother, even though he was 26 years older than she.  She was a school teacher, and from her check she had been furnishing part of the income for her father.  Henry made him a proposition that if he let them marry, the father could keep her entire salary for a year. He agreed and together Mary's parents had six children-four girls and two boys.

Henry farmed 400 acres, which consisted of farm land, pasture and timber.  His major crops were wheat, oats and peanuts.  He was the first person in that area to have a peanut threshing machine.  There was a lot of trouble with it, so in addition to the other duties of being a farm wife, Mary's mother was kept busy going for parts.  Henry was also a county surveyor and laid out the plat for Davenport. He bought one of the first combines to harvest wheat and oats, and did lots of custom work.  By the time he was too old to farm and had moved into Davenport, the oil wells came in so he didn't want for anything financially in his later years.

Earl and Mary, her parents and two sisters started on a trip to Niagara Falls on what would be Earl and Mary's honeymoon. Along the way, somewhere in Indiana, Henry suffered a stroke. For the last eight years of his life, he was an invalid. He couldn't walk or use his hands well, but Earl said of him, "He was a very fine gentleman whose word was better than a contract.''

Earl was also born in Oklahoma, at Mangum, on Apri120, 1924.  He was the 6th child of eight-four boys and four girls-born to William and Martha Curtis.  A short time later the family moved to Lincoln County and they moved often in his Earl's earlyyears.  ''We must have lived on half the farms in Lincoln County." His father was afraid of debt, so he was always a renter.  Some of the houses were nicer than others but his mother always set about redoing the inside, re-papering, building closets or whatever was required.  She became very proficient in this.  In some cases, however, Earl can remember waking up to find that snow had come in through the siding and sifted onto his bed.  With horses and manpower, William farmed 160 acres of corn and oats to feed livestock and cotton.  He didn't even have a tractor until the boys were grown and gone from home.  In Earl's words, it takes a strong back and a weak mind to pick cotton but that is what he and his brothers did, in the same way Iowa farm boys put up hay.

The family moved from there to Lincoln County where Earl went to two or three one­room rural schools with the big old stove in the center of the room. He often walked a mile or two to school and went early to get the stove started to warm up the room. He tells his grand­children that he walked 2 1/2 miles to school in snow knee-deep, uphill both ways.

Earl also went to two high schools-the first and last six months of the four years to Davenport and the other years to Chandler. He played basketball and softball.

After graduation, Earl enlisted in the Air Force.  He spent part of the time in the jungles of Leyte where people were barely civilized. The city of Manilla had been completely destroyed  and not all the people had been found when he arrived there.  The harbor was full of sunken ships. Masts were sticking out of the water everywhere.  The reception center hadn't been built when the military arrived. They were up to their knees in mud and were told, "This is where your tent is."

One memorable occasion was seeing his brother, Kenneth, who was just older than Earl. They hadn't seen one another for three years.  Earl found out that his brother had been moved from New Caledonia up to Luzon, where he was stationed.  Earl hitched a ride to his brother's camp and they had a reunion.  Later, Kenneth made a trip to Manilla, where Earl was stationed, and they spent Christmas Day together.  Just to say they went swimming on Christmas Day, they swam in Manilla Bay in spite of it being muddy water.

Earl completed his duty in February, 1946, spent a little time visiting a sister in Michigan and worked for an oil company before starting business college in Enid, Oklahoma, to receive a degree in accounting.  He moved back to Chandler and went to work for a farm credit associationmaking loans to farmers in a four-county area around Lincoln.  This is what he was doing when he met Mary.

Mary had continued using her musical talent.  In high school she had sung in chorus, glee club and small groups, and she and two other girls had sung together, becoming known as the Southern Trio.  They often sang in the church in Davenport, where the congregation also depended on special numbers by Mary and the preacher's wife.  Mary's sister played the organ. After Mary and Earl were married they often sang together, in Luther, and later when they were living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The other two girls of her trio graduated when Mary was a junior.  They went to California and persuaded Mary to come out, also, which she did as soon as she was out of high school. There she took a course in tele-typing and worked for Western Union in Oakland, and later in Richmond she was secretary in the parts department of General Motors.  The trio continued singing. A pastor, who had a weekly radio service, had them sing to open and close each program.  They often sang at a revival tabernacle that held services every night.  The tabernacle had its 50th anniversary in 1994, and Earl and Mary attended.  When Mary returned to Oklahoma, she worked as a secretary for Frigidaire.

Although Mary and Earl had gone to the same school and Mary and Earl's sister were friends, the two had never gone out together.  Earl's story is that Mary picked him up one Saturday night. Mary's version is that, when Earl's sister invited her for lunch, she didn't even know that she had an older brother; but the two drove around in Earl's Chevy that evening.  They dated for about five months and were married.  After Earl proposed, Mary made him wait two weeks before she gave him an answer. Was it a perfect marriage?  They both agree that it has been certainly nearly so.  Their honeymoon was interrupted, but, later they took a trip to visit Earl's sister and other relatives in Michigan.

The couple lived in Davenport for a year or two, then Earl changed jobs and started working in the office of an oil company in Seminole, Oklahoma. Janet was born in Seminole in 1954. In 1956 a friend bought a bank in Wellston, which was about the size of Murray, and wanted Earl to help him run it. That was the beginning of Earl's banking experience.

Earl had spent about a year in Wellston when he and his brother-in-law, who had a bank in Davenport, bought one in Luther, Oklahoma.  The family moved there and Earl ran the bank for about ten years, during which time Phil was born, in 1958.  Earl sold his interest to organize a new bank in Chouteau.  It was not successful and Earl ran an ad, hoping to continue in banking. The answer was an opportunity with Western Southern Life Insurance Company.  Earl was asked if he would be interested in calling on banks in Iowa and northern Illinois for their credit life insurance program. Earl took the job and the family moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1967.

Western Southern decided to go out of that aspect of their insurance business and it was necessary for Earl to go back and close out all his customers. At that point he was given the option of moving east to Cincinnati, Ohio, to run a branch of Southern Ohio Bank; or west to the Los Angeles area and manage real estate; or resign.  Not being interested in moving, Earl chose the third option and resigned.

He ran an ad in the Northwestern Banker, which was seen and answered by Keith Richard, of Osceola, Iowa, who was CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Clarke County State Bank.  Earl came to Osceola for an interview with Keith Richard and "Rich" Robinson, and came to work as farm loan officer at Clarke County State Bank.  He recalls those who were already employed when he came: Ross Gould, Jane Houston, Peggy Frizzell, Donna Saddoris, Fern Windland, Betty Jackson, Tom White, Twyla Soll, Pat Frey (Reynoldson), and perhaps others. Earl acknowledges that it is dangerous to list people for fear of leaving out someone that he would want to include. “I loved them all so much that I wouldn’t want to fail to include them all.”

The Curtis family moved to Osceola the first week in May, 1969. Housing was in short supply but they found several rental properties before they built their present home in December, 1971.

Earl had no doubts that he had made a good decision about coming here. His faith makes him confident that God sent him to Osceola. “I led him around a lot before he got me here, but I think God has a plan for everybody. If you try, you can get in the plan and be successful.”

Keith Richard stayed on one more year and, in 1967, Waid Lentz became the bank president. When Waid Lentz retired in 1970, Earl was asked if he thought he could run the bank. His answer was that he sure could. At the time of his retirement, his history with the bank was published in a flyer publicizing an open house in his honor.

“After 20 years with Clark County State Bank, Earl Curtis is stepping down. And to commemorate the occasion, we’re holding an open house at the bank so his family and all his friends throughout the community can join us in honoring him.

“Earl has been working for CCSB and for the Osceola community since 1969. He’s been Managing Officer of the bank since 1972, was elected President in 1973, and added Chairman of the Board in 1979.

“During Earl’s tenure, the bank has enjoyed tremendous growth. Physically growing, more than doubling the size of our main building; adding a drive-in facility and an office in Murray; remodeling, computerizing and otherwise modernizing our banking systems. And financially growing, increasing total assets. Since 1972 our assets are up $61.7 million; capital structure’s up $5.8 million; we’ve improved our capital ratio from 7.8% to 9.1% and paid dividends totaling $3 million. There was no slow down, not even during the farm recession in the ‘80’s, when so many financial institutions had to shut down.

“As well as leading the bank, Earl has been a driving force on the Clarke County Development Corporation Board, working to get firms like Furnas Electric, Jimmy Dean, Hyland Manufacturing, MacLander and SIMCO to locate in Osceola.

“Earl is also a charter member of the Board for Community Student Loan Fund. He was an original member of the Clarke Community Housing Board, is a past president of the Osceola Chamber of Commerce, a past president of Rotary, and is quite active in the Methodist Church.

“Earl served in the Air Force during World War II. He is a golfer and enjoys boating and fishing.

When he retired, Earl and Mary had big plans for traveling and for four years they made some memorable trips. They saw the northeastern states. They visited Mary’s cousin in Portland, Maine; they saw Niagara Falls and were in all the states in that area. The next trip included the northern mountain states including the Dakotas, Montana, Utah, Washington and Oregon. The next was in the Carolinas, visiting Mary’s cousin in North Carolina; and they have also gone to Texas, Padre Island and San Antonio. They were intrigued that the latter has dug a canal through the city. They could take a boat just outside their hotel and ride through the town. Oklahoma City is now copying that plan.

They wanted to make one more trip into the states in the far south and Alaska; but in November, 1994, Earl began having eye problems. They had been to their son's home in Des Moines and on the return trip he noticed a problem with his right eye. The lines on the dash of the car were wavy.  The next day he saw the doctor, who detected the beginning of macular degeneration, which is a deterioration of cells under the retina.  Blood cells leak into the retina and laser surgery will cauterize it.  This was done, which temporarily healed the problem; but the downside is that it creates a blind spot.  In mid-1995, the same problem developed in the other eye and has recurred a half-dozen times since. Earl saw no point in doing more surgery.  His center-vision is nearly gone, which means that, although he can see objects, he cannot see detail which is needed for identification.  He would not have felt it necessary to call attention to his problems but he would like people to know that if he meets them and doesn't speak, he is not snubbing them.  Unless a person is very close, directly in front of him, he has no way to identify them.

Another part that was hard to accept has been giving up driving. "It took away my independence." When it gets to him, he listens to Southern Gospel music, which is his favorite. He has bought a 31" TV that he has at the foot of his recliner, and has a collection of 60-80 tapes-30 of the Gaithers, and many of the Cathedral Quartette.  They boost his spirit.

Other boosts to his spirit are his family. "They are my life."  Jan's husband is Ted Jurgensen, a lineman for IES Utilities Company.  They have two children-Kyle and Kayla. Kyle is 16 and has his first car, which he anticipates driving to school.  His birth date kept him from starting to school early, so he is now a high school sophomore, 6'5", weighs 295#, and is a football player and wrestler.  He is doing well.

Kayla is 13 and in 8th grade.  What is special about Kayla?  Says Earl with great pride, "She's my granddaughter!"    She has lots of musical talent. She no longer takes piano lessons but loves to sing. She also likes tennis and bowling and has trophies to prove she does well in both.

Phil and his wife, Brenda, live in Altoona.  They have one son, Austin Bryan (5), whose name sounds presidential. Brenda has been employed by Blue Cross/Blue Shield for 11 years and Phil is working for IKON, servicing color copy machines. Phil has organized a Christian rock band, "Salt", which plays for their church, at church camps and recently at Wellspring Book Store. They perform mostly original numbers by Phil and other band members. When they began, their aim was to have an influence on youth, and they have enlarged their vision, hoping to have an impact on all ages.  They will be the opening act for the performance of "Go Fish", appearing in Osceola, August 29, 1999.

Through the years Mary had been content to ride along while Earl drove; but, with occasional help from Jan, she has taken over the driving. They often go to Des Moines to walk in the malls and have lunch. They chose to leave out of their story the various health problems they might have mentioned but their obvious "Recipe for Living" is making the most of opportunities and being aware that God has a plan for each of us and, in Earl's words, "If you try, you can get in the plan and be successful."

Return to main page for Recipes for Living 1999 by Fern Underwood

Last Revised July 9, 2012