JARS v40n2 - In Memoriam: Chris Curtis

In Memoriam: Chris Curtis
Robert Ticknor, Ph.D.
Canby, Oregon

Christel Curtis, Executive Secretary of the American Rhododendron Society from 1967-1973, passed away on December 8, 1985. She was 83 years old. Her friendliness at Chapter meetings helped the Portland Chapter and the Society. The wife of a past Portland Chapter President and Chairman of a National Convention in Portland recalled that when they moved to Portland they attended several plant society meetings but people weren't friendly. Chris greeted them at the first Rhododendron Society meeting they attended and they became very active members of the Chapter and Society.

Chris was a quiet, efficient, dedicated person whose experience in accounting served the society well. She enjoyed corresponding with people seeking information about rhododendrons and the Society.

Travel was another of her interests and she visited gardens and people on two trips to England and two to Australia and New Zealand.

She kept the financial records for Wil-Chris Acres, a wholesale nursery which grows azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias and other nursery-stock which she and her husband William J. Curtis owned. Bill, who survives, helped her answer the many cultural questions which are received by the Executive Secretary of the Society.