E.R. 'Scrappy' Curtis

Elwood Raymond Curtis was born on Nov. 10, 1919, in Whittier, Calif., to Beatrice Hall Curtis and James Porty Curtis II. Branch Rickey of the St. Louis Cardinals signed him at age 17 to play pro baseball for a grand sum of $70 per month. He played for four years and was told by Rickey to report for spring training for the majors in the spring of '42. But, following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Uncle Sam had other plans for him. A sports writer dubbed him "Scrappy" because of his quick temper and feisty temperament. It stuck for life.

He served in the Army's 20th Infantry in the Battle of Attu and several fierce battles in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge. Following the war, he and his brother, Curt, played AAA baseball for one year for the Bremerton Bees, but another major league opportunity was not to be. In Bremerton, he met Phyllis Grieser and they married and moved to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley in 1946, where they raised five children. In 1968, he married Bernice Thede, and they had one son.

Scrappy continued his sports career by playing semi-pro ball, winning second place in the nationals in 1951, umpiring baseball and refereeing basketball until a 1987 injury. He owned, operated and served as the chef in several restaurants in the valley and surrounding area.

Scrappy was preceded in death by his grandparents, James Porty Curtis and Emma J. Beaver Curtis (later Emma Ginac); his parents, Beatrice Hall Curtis and James Porty Curtis II; his siblings, James Porty Curtis III, Francis "Curt" Curtis, Lee Curtis Farlow; and his grandchildren, Nina Collet Curtis and Benjamin Nielsen.

The surviving family includes his children, Tim Curtis, Kemp Curtis, Janine Curtis, Colleen Curtis, Kassie Monney and Sean Curtis; his grandchildren, Tina Marie Libardi, Ryan Monney, Hannah Curtis, Seth Rudfelt and Kali Curtis; and his great-grandchildren, Gabriel Nielsen, Zachary Nielsen, Kayla Monney and Caden Monney.

The family wants to give a special thank you to Dorothy Stafford and Kassie Monney for their special care given to Scrappy during the last year.

The Curtis family will celebrate Scrappy's life and invite his friends to join them between 5 and 9 p.m. Thursday at the Quality Inn in Clarkston. Please come and share the stories of the Scrappy that you knew.