Lillian Kinney Curtis, wife of the late Rt. Rev. Ivol Ira Curtis, went home to be with Lord on May 11, 2008.

She was born Oct. 12, 1909 on a farm in Verdon, S.D. to Lewis and Elizabeth Frances Stevens Kinney.

Lillian was raised in Browns Valley, Minn. In 1932, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Carlton College, Northfield, Minn. She taught high school Latin and French for four years before marrying her college sweetheart.

Lillian and Ivol were married in 1936. They ministered in Syracuse, N.Y., Boston, Mass., Pontiac, Mich., Los Angeles, Calif. and the Diocese of Olympia, Wash., with the Episcopal Church.

At the age of 50, she received her master’s degree in library science in Los Angeles. She worked as a children’s librarian until moving to Seattle in 1965.

They bought a small cottage on Whidbey Island, where they summered. In 1975, they retired to Laguna Hills, Calif. After her husband’s death in 1994, she moved back to Whidbey to live with her son, Donald and family.

She is survived by her sons, William B. Curtis, Donald C. and wife, Noel C. Feetham Curtis; three grandchildren, Sharon and husband, Shawn Warwick, Steven J. Curtis and Stephanie Curtis Bennett and husband, Steve Whetsell; 10 great-grandchildren; Kurt, Brett, Scott, Keegan, Kendra, and Carmen Warwick and Sara, Matthew, Allison and William Bennett.

A celebration of her life will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 18 at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Oak Harbor.

Arrangements are under the direction of Visser Funeral Home, Langley.