Margaret Anne Hammond Curtis

A Beauty, Dancer, Nomad, Seamstress, Nurse, Patriot, Saint,

Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother

Margaret was born in Charleston, South Carolina on 0ctober 9^th, 1932 to goodly parents Leigh and Grace Hammond. Her early years were spent in a close extend family of Virginians and moving about the South.  Her father worked for the Civil Aeronautics Administration (now FAA) building airport control towers throughout the small cities in the South.  She was a Southern bell through and through.

Margaret’s journey in life gave her and her children chances to experience many amazing new cultures, people and learning.  They became global thinkers through having witnessed life under dictators, communism, socialism, and nominal Emperor/Democracy and the realization that America was a gem of them all. 

Aa a child of ten she saw the beginning of World War II and remembers rationing of products and saving tin foil and metals for the war effort and felt sheltered from the harsher realities of the war.  This sheltered life ended when at age 14 her father accepted an assignment to Berlin, just one year after war ended to help rebuild Lufthansa Airline.  They crossed the North Atlantic in mid-winter on a troop transport during severe winter storms that threaten to sink the ship.

Because of her father’s position she was introduced to many guests of the quadripartite governments including high echelons from America, Great Britian, France and Russia.  She remembers seeing the desolation in Germany and talking to residence about the horrors of the war. She remembers the Russian’s attempts to blockade Berlin with power outages and having to cook at odd hours.  Her sister’s girl scout troop in Berlin helped make some of the little parachutes for the Candy Bomber during the Brelin Airlift.

While in Germany she attended the American Dependents High school with only 32 students total and they shared adventures as a unit and with no social divisions of grades. She graduated high school at the age of 15 and because of her young age she waited a year before going to college and toured Italy.  At the age of 16 she traveled solo aboard a ship to Stephens College, Columbia Missouri where she got here associate degree in Fashion design.

When she returned to Germany she met her husband, 2^nd Lt Roland E. Curtis, on a blind date arrange by her best friend from High School and after a short courtship they were married in Germany and continued her nomad life as the wife of a military man with duty stations every two years.

Curt’s military career spanned 23 years, 13 of them overseas duty stations including Germany (twice), France, Japan, Panama and Curt alone to Kores and Vietnam during the war there.  Margaret dutifully followed her husband. Each brought her new cultural experience and adventures and a global outlook on life for her and her children.  Her three girls were born in various places: Anne Cathell in Bad Krueznach, Germany (1953), Cindy Jane in Honolulu, HI (1959 the month Hawaii became a state), and Virginia Ellen in Portland Oregon (1963) while awaiting Curt’s return from Vietnam.

During these tours they were introduced to square and round dancing at their social gathering and they began starting round dancing groups at their various duty station and continued dancing after they retired to phoenix Arizona.   Round dancing was one of her great passions in life and they danced well into their 60s hosting their own round dance club.

Margaret passed away peacefully on December 7, 2023 at the age of 91 in Layton, Utah.  She is survived by her daughter Virginia Anne Parry, seven Grandchildren, and 9 Great Grandchildren.  She is now gone to her final duty station to be in the loving arms of her Husband Curt, and two daughters, Anne, and Cindy.

She will be interred with her husband at the Utah Veterans Cemetery & Memorial Park, 17111 South Camp Williams Road, Bluffdale, Utah on December 18, 2023 with a private family graveside service.