Bernice Helen (Clark) Curtis

Bernice Helen Clark Curtis, longtime resident of Pueblo, Colorado, laid her burdens down October 10, 2018. Born at home in rural Butler County, Kentucky to Fredrick A and Lanora Belle (Cooper) Clark, Bernice was the 10th of 12 children, one of only two girls, on March 13, 1925. Bernice was not expected to reach adulthood but her innate will to fight through all adversities kept her going for 93 years, 6 months and 29 days, outliving all of her siblings. After meeting Army Air Corpsman, Allen C. 'Jack' Curtis through high school friends in 1941, the couple married in May 1943. Called to tend her gravely ill only sister, Bernice gave birth to their first son, Frederick A. in Madison, Indiana while Jack fulfilled his Army obligations at various air bases in the US (he was a Master Gunnery Sergeant). After her sister’s passing, Bernice returned home to Kentucky with the baby until Jack’s discharge in 1945 when the small family journeyed west to Jack's boyhood home in Silver Cliff, Colorado. Bernice was thrilled to be living in the Wild West and hoped to fulfill her fellow high school graduates expectations by becoming the next Clare Boothe Luce and writing the definitive novel about the people she met. (No manuscript has ever been seen.) Having been trained as a store clerk by a Works Progress Administration program during the Great Depression, Bernice enjoyed working at a soda fountain/drug store, a cigar store and as assistant in the small post office in Silver Cliff, a job which she relished for its social interaction. She received her appointment as Postmaster of Silver Cliff in 1950 when the previous Post Master, Marie Erps, retired. However, she almost immediately followed Jack to his new employment with McCoy Caterpillar in Lamar, Colorado where a daughter (Beverly) and two more sons (Jerry and Larry) were added to the family. A move to Pueblo in 1961 brought her to a home in the new subdivision of Highland Park where she lived for the next 56 years. She was an active member of Calvary (Baptist) Church; teaching Sunday school for 23 years and serving as Deaconess for almost 30. She was a scout mom (Cub, Boy and Girl), a dance mom (Beverly, Fred and Larry), a Rainbow Girls mom, treasurer and secretary to various clubs/organizations over the years, a graceful ballroom dancer into her late 80’s, volunteer for various charities, and “adopter” of church friends, kids friends, and neighbor’s kids. She didn’t hesitate to sit with the sick, make and deliver meals to the ill and bereaved, write a poem of hope to the heartsick, write regularly to old friends and relatives, house and entertain visiting family on their vacations from “back East”, nor pull together a program for any of her church and social groups. She partied softly, didn’t drink nor smoke, and vigorously demonstrated her belief in being clean and well-turned out for any occasion. In her later years she travel the U.S. extensively including Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Preceded in death by her husband of 38 years, Allen C. Curtis, granddaughter Tala Jean Curtis, daughter-in-law Bobbie Ann (Fred) Curtis, and late-years dance partners and travel companions, Dale Dipert, Ken Wiley and Bill Kennedy. Survived by all four children; Frederick A. Curtis, Beverly J. (Bruce) Little, Jerry W. (Christine) Curtis and Larry D. Curtis as well as grandchildren Tanya (Don) Taton, William Curtis, Scott (Jessie) Little, Keith Little and Audrey Curtis, great grand children Lanora Taton and Dominic Curtis, and three great-great grandchildren; Jason Curtis, Tristan Curtis, and Zoe Marie Curtis. Her ability to “just add another plate to the table”, sewing, gardening skills and memories of growing up “in the hills” will be missed by all. Memorial services are set for 2:00pm at T.G. McCarthy on Goodnight, Tuesday October 16, 2018. In lieu of flowers, which made her sneeze, please bring memories to share. Internment of ashes at Imperial Gardens at a later date.