Eleanor Curtis

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San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA) - Tuesday, April 15, 1997

Eleanor Spalding Curtis , a lifelong resident of Coronado who did secretarial work for the U.S. Navy and the American Red Cross, died of cancer Thursday in her home. She was 80.

Mrs. Curtis was the wife of retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Donald Curtis , the oldest living graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Gen. Curtis, 101, graduated from Annapolis in the class of 1918. He married Mrs. Curtis in 1984.

From 1933 to 1973, Mrs. Curtis sang in the choir at Christ Episcopal Church in Coronado, where her late father, the Rev. Charles Edward Spalding , served as rector from 1901 to 1921 and from 1928 to 1935.

During World War II, Mrs. Curtis joined the American Red Cross and served as a secretary in Hawaii.

She continued her 18-year secretarial career in San Diego, first with the Red Cross and later with the U.S. Navy.

She also served two terms on the board of directors of Coronado Hospital.

Mrs. Curtis' first husband, Navy aviator LtCdr Calder Atkinson , was killed in World War II. Her second husband, Navy Capt. Alexander Gray , died in 1977.

Mrs. Curtis attended elementary school at Janet Owers' Beach School on the grounds of Hotel del Coronado.

She was a 1934 graduate of Coronado High School.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by a sister, Emma Schwartz Hamilton of Chula Vista, and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 25 at Christ Episcopal Church, Coronado. Inurnment will follow at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Donations are suggested to San Diego Hospice, 4311 Third Ave., San Diego, CA 92103-1407.