TREASURE COAST BOATING
LIVING HISTORY
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as much diligence and passion as he had for his career. He
loved to paint with oils.
“I paint most of the time — every morning. Sometimes,
two or three hours in the afternoon,” he said.
The prolific artist looked up to mentors Beanie Backus and
Jim Hutchinson, who were inducted into the Florida Artist
Hall of Fame, and who also inspired his work.
The centenarian never ran out of things to do. He owned
an extensive collection of antiques, antique tools and cut
glass — and carefully catalogued hundreds of pieces. He
enjoyed golfing and played 18 holes at the Stuart Yacht and
Country Club — twice a week — until he reached his mid-
90s. And for old times’ sake, at 89, he built his last boat. It
was a 16-foot, flat-bottomed skiff, a replica of his first boat.
Steve Hero became the proud owner and named the boat
Curtis.
So what was Curt’s secret to a long, healthy life?
“I still exercise. I have pulleys, rubber bands and I do sit
ups. I walked until just recently,” he said the week before he
died. “I never smoked, drank in moderation ...”
“And you have good genes and had a wife who treated
you very well,” his daughter, Laura Kay, added.
When you reach 106 years, time is measured more in moments
than in years. A sailfish jumping out of the ocean, a
heron fishing for a meal or a sailboat gliding across azure
waters — are all scenes that still need to be savored and captured.
And so it is fitting that in Curt’s last days, he worked
at his easel with paint-stained hands, busy portraying a brilliant
sunset picture of the family boathouse on Willoughby
Creek. He finished it in time. The painting was a gift for his
son, John. It was just one more creation added to a lifetime
filled with amazing works.
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WHITICAR FAMILY PHOTOS
A prolific artist who looked up to mentors A.E. Backus and Jim Hutchinson, Curt painted more than 1,900 landscapes of places that he loved.
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