|
|
In Loving Memory of Barbara Thoman Curtis
10/17/1938
-
10/18/2015
Location:
Ormond Beach,
Florida
Visits:
7,512
A service celebrating Barbara's life will be held on Saturday, December 5th at 2:00 PM at Unity on the North Shore in Evanston, Illinois. Please join us as we share the joy, strength and love that Barbara brought to so many.
Barbara Irene Thoman Curtis passed away on October 18, 2015, just after reaching her 77th birthday. She was surrounded by family … and the smells of chicken and orzo cooking. She passed away peacefully.
Her health struggles began many years ago, and while many had counted her out, she was not ready to give up on life. She had work to do, you see, and by god she would do it. She was a nurse by profession, actually a teacher and a national leader of nurses … and there was much that needed to be done. And she did it … in between hospital stays and operations and dialysis treatments, she would get on planes and go wherever she was needed.
She is survived by her three loving children, Douglas, Cheryl and Mirella; her grand-children Brandon Fair, Cassie Reyes, Catherine, Elizabeth and William Curtis; her great-grandchildren Austin and Maddie; and her siblings Mark Thoman, Lea Acord and Nikki Fisher.
In her extended family, her courage was legendary … like some giant oak that would move in the night from one part of the forest to another, while the rest of us were still wiping the sleep from our eyes.
Her mother Tasula Thoman had the same powerful and uncompromising approach to life, as did her mother (our grandmother Stella Petrakis) before her. Her father John's gentle and caring spirit lived on in her, too.
At every turn, Barbara was simply incapable of backing down … but instead of being that obstinate for selfish and annoying reasons, she did it for selfless and glorious reasons… because she saw the world needed help, and so long as she had air in their lungs, and a fire in her heart, she would continue to provide help as best they could... to any and all who needed it.
She was a beautiful being and all who knew her will mourn her departure just as we would a great stand of old-growth forest.
Here is an interview with her from 2014 … where she talks about her activist view of life.
http://www.theamericannurse.org/index.php/2015/10/15/barbara-thoman-curtis-the-quintessential-nurse-activist-and-change-agent/
Peace to her great spirit.
|