Curtis, Nathan, 1928-

Nathan Curtis was born on February 3, 1928, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He graduated from Pride High School and attended Louisiana State University. In 1946, he enlisted in the United States Army and served in occupied Korea for a year and a half. He also visited Japan during this trip. After his time of service to his country, Mr. Curtis embarked on a multi-faceted career. He began this career in journalism, working for the North Baton Rouge Journal, and he went on to become the circulation manager for the Jennings Daily News as well as Colorado's Alamosa Daily News. Mr. Curtis has been in Lake Charles since 1962, where he worked as an insurance agent for Met Life for 10 years. In 1974, he opened his own agency, Curtis Insurance, which is still in operation today. He became a real estate agent as well.

In 1992, Mr. Curtis was asked to fill in for a local radio show host at KAOK, as he was a regular call-in to the show. This led to the station offering him his own show, which he accepted, and he worked alongside Ed Prendergast. He worked for KAOK for three years and then worked at KOJO 91.7 FM from 1995-1998. He had a 30-minute show and interviewed a wide range of people during his three years, from politicians to missionaries.

Mr. Curtis has been involved in a wide range of political and civic acitvities. He has been very active in local politics. He has run for City Council, worked for numerous campaigns, and organized a Get Out the Vote Campaign. Mr. Curtis also outlined a Neighborhood Drug Education Program than received national attention. The National Organization against Marijuana presented the program to presidential candidate Ross Perot, whom Curtis eventually met. Mr. Curtis also organized the Conservative Christian Resource Center, which was incorporated and held meetings where such challenging issues as gambling were discussed.

Nathan Curtis has also been extremely active in the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a heritage organization. He was chaplain of the local James W. Bryan Camp for many years. He has been committed to promoting Southern heritage and has participated in Civil War reenactments in various parts of the South.

Mr. Curtis is very active in charitable projects as well. Beginning in 1998, he ran the Salvation Army Homeless Shelter in Lake Charles and has been the Salvation Army's community relations director. In association with the organization, Mr. Curtis volunteered his services near Ground Zero in New York City in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He spent two weeks there helping to feed police and rescue personnel. He is very involved in his church, the Tom Hebert Road Baptist Church, and has been a deacon and Sunday school teacher there for many years. Nathan Curtis has two children, Tommy Curtis and Phyllis Padua, and a grandson, Danny. His son and daughter are partners in Curtis Insurance.

From the description of Nathan Curtis interviews. (McNeese State University). WorldCat record id: 69694808