Posted by Ken Lang: for Dick Curl on February 22, 2006:

Nancy, I've been thinking what I should write you about your Dad. Lots of memories and others like Rick Brown have attested to his great contributions to the Army. But on a personal note, I think back to the U of Illinois when Don, Scotty Smith and I were getting our Masters in Civil and taking many of the same courses. We took "hydwology" from Ven Te Chow, Soils and Foundation Engineering from Ralp B Peck, and particularly, Enginering geology from Don Deere--all world-class professors. Don and Scott were bachelors and I was married with a son, Jim, 3 years old, and another, Jeff, "in the oven". So I had a house and it was convenient for us to spend a lot of time there studying. We collaborated on our big project, the Geology of Baraboo, Wisconsin. We went to Baraboo, climbed rocks, took pictures and subsisted on apples and cheese--both readily available in Wisconsin. We made a 3-D model of the Devil's Lake area showing all the "strike and dip" of the several formations, how they overlapped over time with big geologic events (moveable pieces!), and it was glorious! Scott and I were the report writers and Don was the principal model builder, as he was the one with talent! I remember us going to his apartment during the final stages where he had his paints...and there was his masterpiece: an oil of an absolutely gorgeous girl--brunette, sloe-eyed, a young Sophia Loren...his Patti. He was still working on it, but he had certainly captured her image just as she had captured his heart. You couldn't look at that portrait without feeling the love. There are other things I remember...his crooked finger from softball (he was good!), how proud he was of building the ski slope at West Point during his time as Facility Engineer, how, as Resource Manager for the Corps of Engineers he helped me get the program office for the MX Program up and running...but the "Donato" who painted his love's portrait is my most enduring memory. His death was indeed a tragedy, but I believe he saved my life. As he was waging his valiant struggle, I took his advice and had a colonoscopy--an unpleasant task I'd been avoiding. Sure enough, I had a "bad polyp". I had a colon resection in March, 1984. Regular checks since then have been clear. I thank Don for this in my prayers. Thank you for giving me the impetus to write this. I should have written it for Patti. With Love, Dick Curl

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