He’s one of the oldest living World War II veterans in North Dakota.

Curtis, who lives at Minot Lodge Senior Living in Minot, will observe the day with a birthday party held in his honor this afternoon at the assisted living facility. His daughters, Teresa Glaspey of Portal and Judy Antrim of Laporte, Indiana, will be attending.

He has three other daughters, Judy’s twin, Julie Antrim, also of Laporte, Connie Toffle of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Becky Gray of Alexandria, Minnesota. His family also includes 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Curtis has often said much of his longevity is attributed to keeping active. At Minot Lodge Senior Living he plays cards, including leading the card games, plays bingo, takes part in exercise class and rides the stationary bike in the exercise room besides walking every day. He used to lead the exercise classes if no one was available to lead them. He continues to be very independent.

Ray Curtis, second from left, clockwise, plays a game of cards with others at Minot Lodge Senior Living in Minot.

“He really believes in exercise and staying active,” Glaspey said.

Danielle Alsadon, executive director of Minot Lodge Senior Living since August, said Curtis and his enthusiasm for keeping active and exercising has inspired her.

“He is truly inspiring,” she said.

Curtis’ is a longtime subscriber and reader of The Minot Daily News.

“He’s always been a big reader throughout his life,” Glaspey said. “As long as I can remember he read The Minot Daily paper. He used to read it from the front page to the back page. Years ago, he really read the paper.” Due to failing eyesight, she said he uses a magnifying glass to read the paper now.

Ray Curtis, third from left center, takes part in an exercise class led by Minot Lodge Senior Living activities director Steph Wright. In the past, Curtis has led exercise classes when those who normally do it can’t be there.

Originally from Columbus, Curtis was born Feb. 11, 1917, at the Portal hospital. In a February 2021 interview, Curtis said, “I imagine it was the doctor’s house but they called it a hospital.”

He moved with his family to Minot in 1927 and graduated from Minot High School (now Central Middle School) in 1935.

After graduating from high school, he farmed with his dad and brother until enlisting in the U.S. Army.

“He was in the Army for five years. He enlisted and he was an officer. He spent some time in the United States and then he was overseas for a while,” Glaspey said.

For his first two months in the Army he worked as a clerk-typist in Minot, Curtis said in the 2021 interview.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941, he had just a short time left in the Army but the attack changed those plans. He and his then girlfriend, Ellen, married in Reno, Nevada, and he was sent from San Francisco, California, to Texas. He and his wife were together for a few months after their marriage and then she went to Minot to stay with his parents until he was discharged from the Army in December 1945.

He said in the 2021 interview he was in the states about four years and in Germany about 10 months.

Curtis moved up to the rank of sergeant and then went to Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. While in the Army he served as a communications officer, an aircraft automatic weapons unit commander and, when he went overseas, as an infantry unit commander.

After his discharge from the Army, Curtis farmed the family farm in the Columbus area. He and Ellen retired in 1983 and moved to Minot. Ellen died Dec. 24, 2014. Curtis moved to the assisted living facility a number of years ago.

A veteran in Fargo, who is about four months older than Curtis, is believed to be the state’s oldest veteran.