Donald "Don" Ray Curtis

Chesterfield, SC

          Don Curtis left this temporary home and his sickness behind on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 when he went to be with Jesus. He spent his last days comfortably at home with his family watching all 635 episodes of Gun Smoke. Never one for formalities, Don requested that his family hold a private Celebration of Life at a later date.

            Don was born Donald Ray Curtis on February 17, 1963 in Asheville, NC to his late father, William Paul Curtis, Jr. and his mother, the late Betty T. Curtis Hayden. Don is survived by the love of his life, Donna Outen Curtis, to whom he was married for 41 good years. Don is also survived by three sons: William Drew Curtis; Dylan Sutton Curtis; and Dalton (Laura Stone) Augustus Curtis who were his very best friends in life.  Don is also survived by his brother, William Paul Curtis, III, and his wife, Phyllis, of Charlotte.    Don was also survived by his “Wife Without Benefits,” Casey Moore, who he claimed he always had to look after, no matter what. 

          Don was a graduate of Chesterfield High School, Class of 1981.  He operated Snow Hill Processing in Chesterfield, SC and was a meat cutter by trade until becoming a diesel mechanic for Valley Proteins in Wadesboro, NC.  Never afraid of hard work, Don was quick to lend a hand to anyone in need, no matter the task. 

          Don was never lonely.  If he wasn’t in the company of his wife and children, his home was full of teenagers and good friends cracking jokes and telling stories of years past. Whether he was playing the spoons or singing those old Hank Williams songs, Don was always the life of any party. On Sundays, he enjoyed Ms. Viola’s cooking and working on the farm with his boys and Don Outen. When he wasn’t working, Don and Tony G enjoyed baiting dove fields and perfecting the recipe to “Donald and Antonio’s Homemade Wine.”

Don spent every day living. And boy, did he live. To borrow the words of Augustus McCrae (Lonesome Dove), “it ain’t dying I’m talking about, it’s living.  I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live.”  A few short years ago, Don was cutting back flips off a six-foot pole into the canals of Ocean Isle, and if that sounds like a joke; man, you should have seen that “old man” go. Full of spirit and full of life, Don lived to chase after his littlest best friends, those children that he claimed as his own, who never, ever heard him say the word “no.” 

            Instead of flowers, Don would have appreciated that you make contributions on his behalf to the Ronald McDonald House, who was so good to his family a long time ago. 

Miller-Rivers-Caulder Funeral Home (www.mrcfuneralhome.com) of Chesterfield, SC is serving the Curtis family.