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LTC Thomas Pelham Curtis, II, born in New York City, was the son of Thomas Pelham Curtis of Boston and Elizabeth Delafield Longfellow of New York. LTC Curtis grew up in Washington, D.C. Currently, he and his wife, Denise W. Curtis, reside in Menomonee Fall, Wisconsin. The Curtises have five children.

He is a graduate of Sidwell Friends School, Washington, D.C. and won the First Place award in Art. LTC Curtis is a graduate of Harvard College , with an AB Degree in Architecture. He was cartoonist and officer of The Harvard Lampoon and a member of the Hasty Pudding Club and the Signet Society at Harvard. LTC Curtis completed his post-graduate studies in drawing at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C.

Commissioned an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1960, Curtis served five years’ active duty during the Vietnam War; first at Fort Belvoir, VA, and then in Germany from 1962 to 1965. From 1966 through 1987, he was active in the US Army Reserves, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. LTC Curtis is a recipient of The Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, The Army Commendation Medal, The National Defense Service Medal, The Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and The Army Reserve Component Medal.

LTC Curtis' professional career has included: Editorial Cartoonist for The Milwaukee Sentinel 1969-1983; Editorial Cartoonist for National Review 1967-1985; Editorial Cartoonist for Roll Call, the Newspaper of Capital Hill 1966-1969; Illustrator for Imprimus 1968-2000; Illustrator for Rally Magazine 1967-1969; Art Director for PM Advertising 1984-1985; Owner, Curtis Studio 1985 - present; Art Teacher at Brookfield Academy, Brookfield, WI 1986 - present.

Membership

  • New York State Society of the Cincinnati (President)

  • General Society of Colonial Wars (former Deputy Governor General from Wisconsin; former Governor of the Wisconsin Society)

  • National Gavel Society

  • Ancient Heraldic and Chivalric Order of Albion

  • Colonial Order of the Acorn

  • Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America

  • Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (former Governor General)

  • Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence

  • General Society of Mayflower Descendants (former Governor of the Wisconsin Society

  • Baronial Order of Magna Charta (former Baron)

  • Aztec Club of 1847

  • General Society of the War of 1812 (President of the Wisconsin Society)

  • Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry

  • Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (Commander of the Wisconsin Commandery

  • National Society Sons of the American Revolution (former President of the Wisconsin Society)

Chivalric Orders

  • Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Knight Grand Cross; Grand Aumonier and Deputy Grand Prior for the Grand Priory of the United States of America; Chancellor and Grand Commander of the Order of Merit; Recipient of the Distinguished Service Award; The Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster; The Meritorious Service Medal and the Pilgrim's Medal;

  • Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (Knight; Recipient of The Bronze Cross of Merit)

  • Imperial Ethiopian Order of Saint Mary of Zion (Knight Grand Cross; Recipient of the Imperial Solomonic Order of Merit in the grade of Grand Cross; Baronet of Gorgora)

Publications

The Turn of a Decade, Editorial Cartoons by Curtis, 1970 Curtis in Profile, 14 Years of Editorial Cartoons in the Milwaukee Sentinel, 1983

Listed In

  • The Social Register

  • Who's Who Among America's Teachers

Notes

LTC Curtis holds membership in The American Society of Portrait Artists; Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (Past President); The Copley Society of Boston; Knickerbocker Artists of New York; and Philadelphia Society.

His art has been shown at the Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1970, 1987, 1992; the People's Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1989; Brookfield Academy, Brookfield, Wisconsin 1990, 1995, 1999; Ciao Cafe Italian Restaurant, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin 2004.

LTC Curtis is an active member in the Episcopal Church, serving as a member of the vestry and as past Senior Warden. He is a member of Freemasons Lodge 363 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Traces ancestry through the Livingstons to Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, and has been known to wear a kilt and play the bag pipes.

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