Curtis H. Chaussee

SIOUX CITY -- Curtis H. "Curt" Chaussee, 91, of Sioux City passed away Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, at Westwood Nursing and Rehab.

A celebration of life service will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, March 7, 2009 at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel, with the Rev. Al Wicks officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service Saturday at the funeral home. Condolences may be sent online to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Curt was born Sept. 27, 1917, in Vermillion, S.D., the son of Herbert and Clara (Erickson) Chaussee. At an early age, he and his parents moved to Sioux City. He attended Riverview Elementary, West Junior and Central High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 31, 1941, and served until April 21, 1943. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and served from April 22, 1943, to Oct. 17, 1945. He was sent to Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, where he graduated from navigation school as a second lieutenant, serving on a B-24. From there, he was transferred to Darwin, Australia, for a year. He returned to the U.S. and was stationed in Springfield, Mass., until the end of the war.

On March 20, 1943, he and Ellen Walsh were united in marriage in San Antonio, Texas. After the war, the couple returned to Sioux City. He was employed as a credit counselor for doctors, dentists and hospitals in the Siouxland area.

After retiring in 1982, he bought a lakeside home near Park Rapids, Minn., and spent 10 years enjoying the area. There were many great times with friends and family spent at the lake.

Survivors include his wife, Ellen, of Sioux City; six children, Mary and her husband, Dick Allen, of Newport Beach, Calif., Kirk Chaussee of Sioux City, Jane and her husband, Tony Sanders, of Jefferson, S.D., Scott Chaussee of Pueblo, Colo., Erik Chaussee of Omaha and Ann and her husband, Mark Sisley, of Omaha; nine grandchildren, Brett Allen and his wife Portia, Jennifer and her husband, Kevin Gammon, Hannah and her husband, Jake Gammon, Holly and her husband, Joel Pick, Andrew Sanders and his wife, Melissa, Ben Chaussee, Brooke Chaussee, Stephanie Sisley and Rachel Sisley; and four great-grandchildren, Joseph and Samantha Pick and Kyler and Aspen Sanders.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Odeal Tillson.

Memorials may be made in his name to First Lutheran Church, where he had been a lifetime member, and the American Diabetes Association.