Carl Frederick Curtis died Sunday, Aug. 3 in hospice care in Lillington, NC. He is survived by his girlfriend, Susan Russell of Bynum; his parents, Thomas and Mimi Curtis of Chapel Hill; his sisters, Liz Holm and Theresa Curtis of Chapel Hill and Susan Jane Curtis of Raleigh; his nephews and nieces, Brown Biggers of Greensboro and Carmen Biggers of Chapel Hill, J.T. and Jamey Sauls of Raleigh and Jennifer Curtis of Boston; his aunt and uncle, Geronimo and Cathryn Davis of Denver; his cousins, Mary Jane Davis of Sedona, Arizona and Daniel Davis of Denver; and many friends who will dearly miss him.
Freddie was born on June 7, 1955 at UNC-Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. He attended Chapel Hill High School where he was a member of the school’s inaugural soccer team, in 1972, and the 1973 state championship team. He went on to play soccer at Guilford College.
Freddie lived for several years in Atlanta, working in restaurants and music clubs. One of his favorite memories was of when B.B. King, one of Freddie’s heroes, came to Atlanta to perform at the venue at which he was working. Freddie picked King up at the airport in his old grey Volvo, carried him to the club and cooked him dinner before the show.
Upon moving back to North Carolina, he lived in Beaufort in the family home, and spent a lot of time and energy renovating the house, which is over a hundred years old. He otherwise spent much of his time camping on Shackleford Island. He often entered the local sandcastle-building contest with his good friend Damian Hoffman. He truly loved the coast.
A skilled carpenter and repairman, Freddie returned to Chapel Hill and worked for Yarnell-Hoffer Hardware. He then worked as a plumber and later started his own plumbing business, which he operated until he became sick last year. He had a master’s hand with working parts — plumbing, electrical and more — and much of his handiwork remains.
Freddie was passionate about Tar Heel basketball, cooking, his dogs, old Volvos, golf, the beach and music. He gave much of his time volunteering at the Thrift Store in Cole Park. He enjoyed being outdoors and generally helping anyone who needed help doing anything. He instilled in his sister Liz a deep love of music and taught his nephew Brown all about tools and how to fish. Freddie had a huge heart, and will be missed tremendously.
Upon his passing, a friend quoted Maya Angelou — “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.†— and said of Freddie: “Freddie always made me (and my family) feel special. There is no greater gift in life.â€
A memorial service will be held this Saturday, Aug. 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Jordan Lake N.C. Forestry Division Environmental Education Center, 2832 Big Woods Rd. in Chapel Hill. The site is three miles from US Hwy. 64 to the north and three miles from Jack Bennett Road to the south. The service will be held in the sheltered picnic area.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Collie Rescue of the Carolinas: collierescue.net
My deepest sympathy to all of Fred’s loved ones. I just found out about this, and would have given anything to have had 5 minutes to talk to him once more, and let him know that I never forgot him, always loved him dearly, and thought of him often with great affection. He will always live in my heart, and I will remember our years together fondly.