Merle Curtis

Manning Monitor articles ------ 1943

Merle Curtis, Aviation Cadet
Graduated with the Manning Class of 1938

Merle Curtis, Aviation Cadet at Corpus Christi, Texas, writes to his friend, Pete H. Hansen, saying that he had been selected to graduate as a Flying Officer in the Marines (2nd Lt. with Wings). It came as quite a surprise. he adds.

He writes that he has been getting along fine and is now in Basic Training and flying a service type plane.
He says: "'These ships are really fast and its a real thrill to take off in one of these jobs.
I am doing a lot of formation flying and that keeps me plenty busy---no fool in. we really stick close on turns and when we break up we go into a dive-its a little hard to explain in writing but some time I will tell you a lot of interesting things about flying. Ground school gets a little more difficult each day but if you keep on the ball you get along O K.

"Kindest personal regards and best regards to all my friends in the old town." A-C. M. C. Curtis, Class 11A,
Aviation Cadet Reg., U. S. Naval
Air Station, Corpus Christi, Tex.

Merle Curtis Wins Wings
Word has been received that Second Lieutenant Merle Clare Curtis, USMC, has won his aviators' wings and commission in the Marine Air Arm.
He is now on duty with the aircraft squadrons of I the Marines at a naval air station. Lieutenant Curtis, whose mother, Mrs. Donald J. Spencer, resides in Escondido, Calif., enlisted last August as an aviation cadet.
Merle is a graduate of Manning High School and formerly attended Columbus University Junior College, Washington, D. C.

Merle Curtis

Merle C. "Mel / Curt" Curtis of Pecan Plantation in Granbury, a retired vice-president of General Dynamics Corporation, died Saturday, September 5, 1998, at the Glen Rose Medical Center. He was 78.

Mr. Curtis was born December 7, 1919, in Manning, Iowa. He served in the Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946 and was an aviator in the South Pacific during World War II, flying F4Us, SBDs, C-54s and other aircraft. He was recalled to active duty in 1952 and was a helicopter pilot in Korea and Japan. He graduated from Northern Illinois College with a bachelor's degree in physics and an O.D. (Doctor of Optometry.)

He joined Convair, a predecessor company of General Dynamics in 1951 in San Diego, Calif. as an engineer. He was director of engineering at Convair in 1963 when he was transferred to the corporate office of General Dynamics in New York City as director of program analysis and evaluations. In October of that year, he joined the Fort Worth Division as a key executive responsible for ahead-of-schedule completion of early phases of F-111 research, development, test and evaluation.

In 1965, he became vice president of operations for Canadair Limited, a General Dynamics subsidiary in Montreal, Canada and returned to Fort Worth in 1967 as vice president / general manager of the Fort Worth operation. From March 1971 until February 1973, he was vice president and general manager of Convair Aerospace in San Diego, Calif. He was vice president of General Dynamics Corporation and deputy general manager of the Electric Boat Division in Groton, Conn. from 1973 until he took early retirement in 1976. He was a consultant at Canadair from 1976 to 1984.

He was a member of Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Granbury.

Survivors include his wife, Wilma R. Hoyler Curtis of Granbury; two sons, Timothy P. Curtis of Coconut Grove, Fla. and Michael A. Curtis of Lakeside, Calif.; daughter, K-Ellen Cleary of San Diego, Calif.; brother, Paul A. Curtis; three grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Services were Tuesday, Sept. 8, 1998 at Saint Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Granbury with Fr. Larry Gould, Fr. Jared Foster and Fr. Phillip McNamara officiating. Interment was in Laurel Land Memorial Park in Fort Worth. Martin's Funeral Home in Granbury directed.

Page 279 of the Manning Centennial history book

ALLEN CURTIS

Allen and Mildred Curtis moved to Manning from the Bayard/Jamaica area about 1910. They had three children and an additional three were born in Manning. All the children, Dean, Arthur, Rebecca, Max, Paul, and Merle, attended the Manning schools. Al Curtis was a barber and also established a dray business.

Dean Curtis became a railroad employee. After a long career with the railroads, he retired as president of the Norfolk & Danville Railroad and is now living in Virginia near his daughter and four grandsons.

Arthur chose to settle in Manning; he accepted employment with the Dultmeier firm in sales, and was married to Olive Jentsch. Both are now deceased.

Sacramento, California is the home of Rebecca Curtis Conyers, as well as her three sons and their families.

Max Curtis, now retired from the building trades, is residing in San Diego, California. He is the father of two children.

Paul joined the U.S. Navy soon after high school, and after four years, he pursued a civil service career with the Federal Government. Now retired, he and his wife, Velma, live in the San Diego area.

Merle Curtis left Manning to accept employment in Washington, D.C., but soon was in the military service serving during WW II and the Korean action. Later, he had along association with General Dynamics, and retired as a corporate vice-president. He is the father of three children and now lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with his wife, Wilma.