Rosala Marie (Krause) Curtis

Rosala Marie (Krause) Curtis was born in the heart of Chicago, Illinois April 6, 1939 to Elenora Amy (Brown) and Carter David Krause. She was the last living sibling when she passed away. She had two older brothers, Oscar and Charles Krause, and three younger sisters, Renelle (Planting) Bullock, Karen (Planting Thurnell) Entzminger, and Patricia Lesley Planting Thurnell.
She lived most of her early life in Chicago. As a child she had rheumatic fever. The doctor prescribed time in dry Arizona to help her heal.  There she learned to ride a bike, shoot a rifle and hunt rabbits. She ate authentic Mexican food and rattlesnake. 
She attended an  international high school in Chicago where she learned to appreciate people from all over the world and their cultures and cuisines.  She was a good cook at a young age but her family never got enthused about the stuffed stomach recipe she got from a friend though she said it was delicious   
Rosala spent some time during high school in Clarinda Iowa with her Aunt Beulah and Uncle Lorence Swanson. She was a dance champion.  She excelled at all her studies.  In Chicago she won a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago for a sculpture she did though her art teacher didn’t care for it.  She had a beautiful voice which she used in many choirs and singing solos most of her life. 
After high school she worked at Teletype.  Her sister Renelle and boyfriend Ed set her up on a blind date with a National Guard buddy of Ed’s, Jack Curtis.  He was handsome and could dance very well but she thought he was a smart aleck.  He thought she was a smart aleck, but couldn’t forget her big brown eyes.  After a few months of dating, he sort of romantically said they might as well get married because he couldn’t get any sleep.  They eloped.  When her mother found out, they were volunteered into a proper church wedding. Jack was a sheet metal worker and Rosala worked as a secretary for a milk company and another office where when she didn’t get the promised raises, she quit and walked  out to cheers for her bravery.  Both Jack and Rosala were rebels championing civil rights and women’s rights. 
Neither Rosala or Jack were able to have children according to some experts. Two years after they married, the first of seven children, Diane M. (David) was born. Jack F. II (Anna),  Paul G.(Paige), April M. (Michael), Charles B., Timothy D.H. (Rachel), and Christopher B. (April) followed. They saw each child as a precious blessing. They were looking for a place with room for children to run and play and be loud when Jack’s mother fell and broke her arm.  They flew down to north Georgia to see her, and Jack fell in love with the verdant green hills. They moved into a hundred year old house complete with thirteen acres, a barn, smokehouse, granite well, and an outhouse. Rosala was a city girl, but with the help of books, magazines and the advice of old timers and farmers, she started homesteading before it was a popular thing. Jack was good at finding salvage materials for her projects which included a hundred baby chicks the wrong color for the chicken business at the dump.  They had a two acre garden, an orchard, horses, cows, ducks, geese, sheep, goats, lots of chickens and took advantage of wild berries, hog plums, huckleberries, poke salad, other wild greens and mushrooms. The family ate very well. Jack worked as a carpenter.  Rosala went back to school to become a nurse then a doctor, but changed to special education when a teacher told a son of hers he was too dumb to learn to read. She was as usual at the top of her class graduating with honors. She was a great teacher. Her students knew she loved them and they loved her. After she retired, Jack and Rosala served a mission for two years in Saskatchewan, Canada.  They loved this and happily did much more service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Rosala was a Renaissance woman. She was good at whatever she took on, whether art, crafts, gardening, music, theatre, cooking, and many other pursuits but she loved most of all her children, grandchildren (Ashley Olive, Heather, Joshua, Gwen, Amy, Briana, Cory, Kinsey, Bethany, Alexandra, Adrienne, Calista, Connor, Arianna, Ian, Casey, Ollie Rhea,  Ben, Oliver, Hannah, Sam, Aaron, Chris, Caden, Cody and Cooper) and many great grandchildren. She was a good friend and mentor to many. 
 At age eighty-one, thanks to the DNA tests available now to do genealogy, Rosala found out she had a different biological father, Joseph Hermann. He was very similar in looks, size, background and talents as the Dad she grew up with. It also explained her platinum blonde hair instead of dark curly hair like her siblings. She was teased about the milkman, which Carter David was when she was a child. 
For decades, Rosala said give me flowers while I am alive to enjoy them. After I go, please give flowers to someone you love, donate to a charity of your choice, or reach out to the one in need. Dance, eat, sing and celebrate. Don’t cry or mourn for me. 

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

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