1925
Mary
2022
Mary Esther (Beckman) Curtin
March 29, 1925 — December 15, 2022
Mary Curtin Obituary
Mary Esther Curtin died on December 15, 2022 at the age of 97. She was born Mary Esther Beckman in Wausau, Wisconsin on March 29, 1925, the second daughter of Esther (Johnson) and Albert Beckman. Both her parents were the children of immigrants--Swedish and German, respectively. She attended Zion Lutheran Church Elementary School, then Wausau (public) High School, graduating in 1942 (??). Her elder sister Ruth May had graduated the year before, and Mary followed her to Valparaiso University in Indiana. They moved to Chicago in 1944, Mary to the University of Chicago and Ruth May to the Art Institute. Mary graduated with an MA in History in 1948, then worked at Judson College in Marion, Alabama, for 4 years, teaching sociology as well as history.
In 1952 she entered the University of Wisconsin, Madison, PhD program in History. She married William Curtin of Brooklyn, NY, on January 28, 1956; their children are Mary Ellen (born 1956) and Martin (born 1958). Mary withdrew from her doctorate program which was a powerful decision, and they moved to the University of Illinois in 1958, living in Urbana and then in Champaign. They spent the 1964-65 academic year in Aix-en-Provence, France, and the 1968-69 year in Dijon, While at the U of I, Mary worked as an adjunct professor of sociology and history, and in the office of the Dean of Women.
In 1969 they moved to Storrs, Connecticut, where Mary was able to unleash the gardening skills she had learned growing up in Wausau. Over the decades she transformed their property and its pond into a landscape incorporating plantings and sculptures, especially those by their dear friend Colette Butterick. She dedicated herself to writing leaving two large unfinished novels and a genealogy of her Swedish ancestors, one volume complete on the family in the United States and an incomplete genealogy tracking back in Sweden. She and Bill went overseas various times after the children were grown most notably a semester in Upsala Sweden and an academic year in Bayreuth, Germany.
She and Bill we important in helping fashion the Covenant between St. Mark’s Episcopal and St. Thomas Aquinas. They often supported each other attending services at both Churches. Together they were also members of a variety of book and study groups. She was active in the Mansfield Library and League of Women Voters , and the local food cooperative.
She is survived by her daughter Mary Ellen Curtin and her husband Dirk Goldgar of Hopewell, New Jersey, their children Elizabeth Goldgar of Hopewell, New Jersey and Eleanor Goldgar of Portland, Oregon. Also, her son Fr. Martin Curtin OFM Cap of Middletown, Connecticut.
Mary’s family will receive relatives and friends on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at Potter Funeral Home, 456 Jackson St. Willimantic, with a wake service at 6:00pm. There will be a Funeral Service on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 10:30am at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 42 N. Eagleville Rd. Storrs with the burial at Storrs Cemetery to follow. In lieu of flowers please consider one of the following charities: Arbor Day Foundation, Bread for the World. For an online memorial, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com .
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Mary Esther Curtin died on December 15, 2022 at the age of 97. She was born Mary Esther Beckman in Wausau, Wisconsin on March 29, 1925, the second daughter of Esther (Johnson) and Albert Beckman. Both her parents were the children of immigrants--Swedish and German, respectively. She attended Zion Lutheran Church Elementary School, then Wausau (public) High School, graduating in 1942 (??). Her elder sister Ruth May had graduated the year before, and Mary followed her to Valparaiso University in Indiana. They moved to Chicago in 1944, Mary to the University of Chicago and Ruth May to the Art Institute. Mary graduated with an MA in History in 1948, then worked at Judson College in Marion, Alabama, for 4 years, teaching sociology as well as history.
In 1952 she entered the University of Wisconsin, Madison, PhD program in History. She married William Curtin of Brooklyn, NY, on January 28, 1956; their children are Mary Ellen (born 1956) and Martin (born 1958). Mary withdrew from her doctorate program which was a powerful decision, and they moved to the University of Illinois in 1958, living in Urbana and then in Champaign. They spent the 1964-65 academic year in Aix-en-Provence, France, and the 1968-69 year in Dijon, While at the U of I, Mary worked as an adjunct professor of sociology and history, and in the office of the Dean of Women.
In 1969 they moved to Storrs, Connecticut, where Mary was able to unleash the gardening skills she had learned growing up in Wausau. Over the decades she transformed their property and its pond into a landscape incorporating plantings and sculptures, especially those by their dear friend Colette Butterick. She dedicated herself to writing leaving two large unfinished novels and a genealogy of her Swedish ancestors, one volume complete on the family in the United States and an incomplete genealogy tracking back in Sweden. She and Bill went overseas various times after the children were grown most notably a semester in Upsala Sweden and an academic year in Bayreuth, Germany.
She and Bill we important in helping fashion the Covenant between St. Mark’s Episcopal and St. Thomas Aquinas. They often supported each other attending services at both Churches. Together they were also members of a variety of book and study groups. She was active in the Mansfield Library and League of Women Voters , and the local food cooperative.
She is survived by her daughter Mary Ellen Curtin and her husband Dirk Goldgar of Hopewell, New Jersey, their children Elizabeth Goldgar of Hopewell, New Jersey and Eleanor Goldgar of Portland, Oregon. Also, her son Fr. Martin Curtin OFM Cap of Middletown, Connecticut.
Mary’s family will receive relatives and friends on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at Potter Funeral Home, 456 Jackson St. Willimantic, with a wake service at 6:00pm. There will be a Funeral Service on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 10:30am at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 42 N. Eagleville Rd. Storrs with the burial at Storrs Cemetery to follow. In lieu of flowers please consider one of the following charities: Arbor Day Foundation, Bread for the World. For an online memorial, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com .
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Mary Esther (Beckman) Curtin, please visit our floral store.
Read More
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mary Esther (Beckman) Curtin, please visit our flower store.
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