Hello Beaver Dam – People’s Bank

Basil Lee Curtis

In Obituaries by OC Monitor Staff

BasilLeeCurtis1Basil Lee Curtis, 91, of Owensboro, Ky., died Monday, March 1, 2015, in Owensboro. He was born April 1, 1923, in Rockport, Ky., to the late Arvin “Buck” and Abba Merle Miller Curtis.

He as a 1941 graduate of Rockport High School. He was a U.S. Army/Air Force veteran of World War II, who carried the atomic bomb and later the hydrogen bomb and was a triple rated fighter pilot. In 1944 he graduated as a second lieutenant and received his Air Force wings. He made aircraft commander on the B-24 bomber and served as aircraft commander of the Strategic Air Command. He logged more than 4,000 flying hours in C-97’s and C-124’s and was commissioned as lieutenant colonel. At the end of his career he was very proud that he had logged 7,500 hours of flying time. He served with the Owensboro Air Force Reserve. He retired from the Tennessee Air National Guard in 1972. He was the owner of Ohio County Recycling & Auto Crushing until his retirement in December 2014. He was a lifetime member of AmVets of Owensboro and of the V.F.W. of Ohio County.

BasilLeeCurtis2In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Martin Lee Curtis; and sisters, Brent Curtis Timperman and Gay Curtis Spicer.

He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Wanda Curtis; his children, Carolyn Curtis, of Guy Falls, Lonnie Curtis (Sophie), of Akron, Ohio, Lisa Day (Mike), of Belton, Ky., Kelly Leavens (John), of Clearwater, Fla., Mary Lee Burkett (David), of Lebanon, Tenn., Barbara Davidson (Tommy), of Dunmar, Ky.; his daughter-in-law, Diana Curtis, of Akron, Ohio; 15 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; stepchildren, Gary Whittaker (Susie), David Whittaker, and Vicky Whittaker Bowlds (Tony), all of Owensboro; eight stepgrandchildren; 16 stepgreat-grandchildren; and a sister, Barbara Curtis Hansford, of Akron, Ohio.

Services are 11 a.m. on Friday, March 6, at the Chapel of James H. Davis Funeral Home & Crematory in Owensboro. Burial is in Elmwood Cemetery in Owensboro. Visitation is from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday and after 10 a.m. on Friday at the funeral home.

Messages of condolence may be made at: www.davisfuneralhome.com.