CCC Hero - Willie Curtiss
April 6, 1957 - August 18, 2007
The Central Coast College family notes with great sadness the unexpected passing of Willie Lee Curtiss, who had been the Medical Assisting Program Coordinator at the College since the program’s inception in 1997.
Willie was loved and deeply respected by faculty and students for his warm and caring personality, as well as for his passion for excellence and his insistence that graduates of our program be the very best in their field.
Before coming to Central Coast College, Willie spent twenty years in the U.S. Army, where he served as a Senior Medical Instructor at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas; a Senior Medical Operations Officer during Operation Desert Storm; a Senior Flight Medic at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia; and a Senior Clinical Officer at Silas B. Hayes Army Hospital on Ft. Ord. Among the many honors Willie earned were a Bronze Star for his work during Operation Desert Storm, and three awards of the Meritorious Service Medal.
Willie designed and set up the Medical Assisting program from its beginning. He set high standards for his students, and insisted they know more than just the basics. The program’s reputation quickly spread until it became the largest single program at the college, due in large part to Willie’s efforts.
Willie was also involved in the community; he assisted in several fund-raisers the college held for the Red Cross and most recently, in the Taylor Farms Health Fair. After surviving the tsunami in Thailand in 2004, he shared his experiences with the students in a fundraising program to benefit survivors of that tragedy.
Willie’s legacy to Central Coast College and our community is more than 900 students whose lives he touched, and faculty and staff who were privileged to learn from his seemingly endless store of medical knowledge. More than that, we were touched by his humor, his gentleness, and his compassion. He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed.