Earnest Markell Curtis, Jr.

Earnest Markell Curtis, Jr., M.D. died on November 27, 2016 at the age of 87. He was born August 30, 1929 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the son of Beulah and Earnest M. Curtis, Sr. He graduated from high school at the age of 15, attended the University of Alabama where he was in the ATO fraternity, and graduated from Cornell University Medical School in 1953. Following medical school he joined the Navy and subsequently took a residency position at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. There he met his future wife, Anne McShane, in his first month in the laboratory where they shared a microscope and were married less than a year later.

Following residency, he moved to Atlanta to join the practice of Holloway, Hubbard and Curtis at Piedmont Hospital. While at Piedmont and Northside Hospitals he was a leader in the development of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery about which he published a number of papers. Later, he and Dr. Harper Gaston were instrumental members in establishing Kaiser Permanente in Georgia. He ultimately completed his medical career at Emory University in 2002.

While patients and patient care were a top priority, there was more to his life than medicine. Family outings, whether camping in the early days or summers at his father’s home on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, and his family were always his first priority.

He enjoyed life to the fullest. His fascination with black and white photography earned him an award in the Piedmont Driving Club’s Beaux Arts competition. Later in life he took a special interest in painting where he was known for his striking designs and use of color. His children and grandchildren proudly display his works in their homes.

He is survived by his devoted wife of nearly 60 years, Anne Curtis; his four sons, Mark Jennie of Atlanta, Shane of Asheville, Price Kristy of Atlanta, and Lock Kathleen of Baltimore; grandchildren, Mark Lindley, Carolyn, Price, Haynes, Cole, Locke, Fannon, Caitlin, and Shelby; and great-grandchildren, Claire and Wesley.

His family remembers him as a Renaissance Man before that was cool, a father who knew and demonstrated unconditional love, and a husband devoted to the love and care of his wife.

A memorial service and reception will be held at All Saints’ Episcopal Church at 634 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta Georgia 30308 on Saturday, December 3rd at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to All Saints’ Episcopal Church or to Weeks Bay Estuary www.weeksbay.org.