Obituary: Betty Jo “B.J.” Curtis

A memorial service for former Basehor resident Betty Jo “B.J.” Curtis, 69, Wellington, Fla., will be at 10 a.m. Dec. 18, 2004, at Quisenberry Funeral Home in Tonganoxie. Private inurnment will follow in Glenwood Cemetery, Basehor.

Mrs. Curtis died Friday, Nov. 12, 2004, at her home. She was born May 20, 1935, in rural Basehor, the first of three children born to Joe and Olive (Owens) Carney.

She and her husband, Russ Curtis Jr., spent nearly 30 years together, living in Lawrence; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Miami; and Wellington, Fla. During this time, Mrs. Curtis was active in the Head Start program in Lawrence, the U.S. Navy school system in Puerto Rico, served as executive secretary to the director of the Doral Country Club in Miami, and volunteered with the American Cancer Society, the American Orchid Society and the Tropical Orchid Society in Florida.

Survivors include her husband, of the home; a brother, Orin Carney, Rustic, Colo.; stepdaughters, Deborah Fritts, Ottawa, Kan., and Nancy Curtis, San Antonio, Texas; a stepson, Steven Curtis, Lawrence; three stepgrandsons; and many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Faye Gehl.

The family suggests memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society or Hospice of Palm Beach County Inc., sent in care of Quisenberry Funeral Home, P.O. Box 993, Tonganoxie 66086.