Lehi is mourning the life of Mary Elizabeth Curtis, a veteran of the Alpine School District and Broadbent's General Store, who died Sept. 14 at age 73. According to an obituary in the Lehi Free Press, Curtis passed away on her birthday following complications from injuries sustained in a car accident on Feb. 6 at 850 East State Street in Lehi.
The injury from the February crash, which went undetected for nearly seven weeks as Curtis walked on a broken hip, led to a five-and-a-half-month decline involving six different hospitals and care facilities. Her family noted that despite repeated near-death experiences, she maintained an optimistic outlook. Caregivers at her various facilities reportedly competed to be assigned to her room, with one performing cartwheels at her bedside and another shooting confetti during a facility transfer.
Curtis's professional life was deeply rooted in the Lehi community. She spent more than 30 years serving the Alpine School District, beginning as an unpaid playground supervisor before teaching reading and performing clerical work. She spent her final 20-plus years working at Lehi High. Additionally, she worked for nearly 40 years at Broadbent's General Store on 100 East in Lehi, a business that operated from 1882 until its closure in 2017.
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Curtis served approximately 50 years in the nursery and acted as a stake and ward Young Women's camp director, leading overnight backpacking trips for fourth-year girls. She was married to Danny Lee Curtis on July 1, 1972, for 54 years. She is survived by her husband, children Adam Curtis and Elizabeth Webb, her mother Patricia Bone, sister Kaye Lynn Curtis, brother Douglas Ray Bone, and four grandchildren.
Funeral services were held on Sept. 22 at the Gateway Stake Center in Lehi. Her family requested that mourners wear crazy socks to honor her legacy.
