Art Curtis passed away on June 20, 2020 at 11:11am. He fought a coura- geous fight with brain cancer, diagnosed in 2018. Art was given three months to live, but willed himself to reach his 80th birthday, and did on June 8! His niece, Kathleen Morelock, informed Art’s many friends of his passing, and shared a dream Art’s sister Kathie had the night before: “Uncle Art came to the bedroom door…took her hand, and they flew together throughout our beautiful city of San Francisco where we all grew up, visiting all the places he loved.”
Market Street Railway’s Corporate Secretary and member of our Board of Directors for almost 20 years, Art was a legend for his 37-career at Muni, culminating as Chief Inspector up to his retirement in 1998. Here is a wonderful detailed obituary, recounting his many and varied interests and life experiences. We are honored that Art selected Market Street Railway as a charity where well-wishers can send donations. We will recognize every giver here.
We also published a tribute to Art in our quarterly magazine for members, Inside Track, at the printer now and in the mail in about 10 days. In the next two weeks, we will be posting a couple of Art’s great stories that he shared with our members in past issues of Inside Track. So please check back.
Services for Art have been deferred until it is safe to gather. It is a testament to Art’s determination that he could set – and achieve – what doctors thought was an unrealistic goal of reaching his 80th birthday. As Muni historic streetcar trainer Robert Parks noted, “He was too much of a professional to be late for his final pull-in. Two bells, Chief.”
