Obituary of James Michael Curtis

James Michael Curtis

March 27, 1943 – April 20, 2020

James Michael Curtis (“Mike”) passed away peacefully at home on April 20, 2020 at the age of 77 after a long battle with dementia.

Mike was born in Washington D.C. to Doris and Harold Curtis (both deceased).  Mike grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and graduated from Richard Montgomery High School.  After high school, Mike attended Duke University on a football scholarship.  Mike excelled in both athletics and academics while at Duke, where he proudly earned Academic All-American honors and where he very much enjoyed being a part of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.  He was a member of the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame.

After graduating from Duke, Mike was drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Colts in the first round.  He played in the NFL for fourteen years (for the Baltimore Colts, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins), earning one Super Bowl Championship and multiple Pro Bowl awards.  In 2013, he was inducted into the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame.

After retiring from football, Mike spent many years in the commercial real estate business in the Washington D.C. metro area.  Mike loved the outdoors and spent much of his free time over the years in Cody, Wyoming.  In his later years, Mike enjoyed ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray dance studios.  And throughout his life, he was a devoted fan at his children’s sporting events.

Mike moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in 2010, where he lived until his death.  Mike is survived by his three children and seven grandchildren:  Clay Curtis and his wife, Lauren, and their children, Ryan, Catie and Michael; Ryan Curtis and his wife, Kelly, and their children, Morgan and Dylan; and Caitlin (Curtis) Ehlke and her husband, Paul, and their children, Anna Grace and Catherine Rose.  Mike is also survived by his sister, Karen Norris, and his longtime caretakers/managers, Vicky Gates and Vivian Wright. 

A private service will be held at Anderson McQueen Funeral Home.

Contributions in Mike’s name can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?df_id=32112&32112.donation=form1) to further the research of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, or to A Living Tribute (shop.alivingtribute.org) through which a memorial tree can be planted in a National Forest.