1938
April 3rd: Mike was born at home in Sheffield. He was the first and only child of William (Bill) and Vera Curtis
1943-49
Mike attended Lydgate Lane Infant and Juniors School in Sheffield and made good friends (the Crosspool Corinthians) many of whom have remained in contact ever since
1949 – 1961
Mike continued his education at grammar school in Sheffield and at University in Manchester, where he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering, expertise he failed to use for the remainder of his life. His real passion in Manchester was being a member of the University Air Squadron and he completed his first solo flight, in a Chipmunk, in January 1958.
1950’s
Mike started his long sailing career by crewing for his dad on the River Trent
1959
April 7th: Mike and six other members of The Crosspool Crowd jointly celebrated their 21st birthdays at The Maynard Arms, in Grindleford, Derbyshire. Somehow Heather secured an invitation and the rest, as they say, is history.
1961
December 27th: Mike and Heather married at St John’s Church, Ranmoor Sheffield and remained happily together for almost 60 years.
1962
Joined ‘W.H. Curtis’, the family TV and record firm
1963-64
December 1st 1963 – January 30th 1964: Mike and Heather flew around the world visiting the USA, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, India and Pakistan – the start of the wanderlust that never left them.
1967
August 26th: Mike and Heather’s first son, Anthony Michael, arrived
1968
April 1st: Mike joined IBM, based out of their Leeds office
1971
December 22nd: Christopher James came along to complete the family
1974
IBM promoted Mike to a new position in Nottingham and the family moved down to their new home at Wollaton Park, Nottingham
1979-81
Mike’s most successful years of competitive sailing. With son Tony crewing they won:
Swift National and European Sailing Championship in 1980
The Canada Dry Pursuit race in 1979 at Rutland Water
The Newmark Avia Pursuit race in 1981 at Rutland Water
1980s
Mike started scuba diving and went on to complete over 100 dives, mainly in the USA and Asia, including one alongside sharks!
1990
Mike and Heather moved down to Hampshire, following Mike’s transfer to IBM’s world famous Hursley Labs where he pioneered the development of the video conferencing systems market. His only regret was that this was 30 years before the world finally adopted this technology as the de facto medium of communication!
1995
Mike retired from IBM, after 27 years of service!
He and Heather then founded Curtis Connect Ltd, providing Tech Consulting in Europe
1999
July 23rd: Mike’s first grandchild, Emily Rebecca, was born in Kingston, London
2001
July 11th: Mike’s second grandchild, Zac Christopher, was born in Singapore
December 27th: Mike and Heather celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary in the Jukkasjārvi Ice Hotel in Sweden, 200 km north of the Polar Circle
2003
October 31st: Mike’s third and final grandchild, Zara Belle, was born in Singapore
2008
April 5th: Mike celebrated his 70th birthday on a yacht, cruising around Singapore, with his combined UK and Singapore families
September 28th: Mike attended the first Singapore F1 night race, which became his annual pilgrimage for many years to come
2011
December 27th: The whole family celebrated Mike and Heather’s 50th Wedding Anniversary on an exotic island in Thailand
2016
September: Mike was a founding member of the famous annual Onan Road Bowling Competition in Singapore
2019
Mike’s career moved into the Art World, assisting granddaughter Emily to launch her career as a landscape artist.
2021
November 12th (121121): Mike passed away peacefully, with Heather at his side, after briefly opening eyes to take one final look at Emily’s paintings hanging on the wall beside him.