Phil Curd

Philip Raymond Curd July 8, 1959 - March 5, 2022

Funeral Services for Phil Curd of Chadron, Nebraska will be held on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Chadron, Nebraska. A Vigil will be held on Friday, March 11, 2022 at 7:00 PM at the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

Philip Raymond Curd was the sixth child of Dorothea M. and Rollin C. Curd. He was born at St. Joseph Hospital, Grand Island, Nebraska, July 8, 1959. When he was eight, the family moved to Chadron, Nebraska. He attended Chadron grade and middle schools, and graduated from Chadron High School in 1977. "Phil wrestled in the Jaycees wrestling program. Great football player, pretty good basketball player, and a great Little League baseball player I had the privilege to play pitch and catch with for some time." --Leo Curd

Phil seemed to always be talking when he was younger. In 2016 he wrote "Since I do not have T.V. at home. . . I read a whole lot and having a wood stove with glass front to read by, it is enjoyable, but I will not be smoking a pipe soon or using crazy big words like George Will or become an Aristocratic Type. . . just enjoy reading and being the little brother who used to tease the heck out of everybody in the family."

He worked in Helena, MT with his brother Dave, building houses during college summers 1977, 1978. After graduating from Chadron State with a degree in business finance, he worked for G.T. Murray in Helena. He entered the food service business at the Microsoft campus during the boom of the 1980s. With focus on pizza and bagels, he worked and managed food services in Helena, Billings, Dallas, Missoula, and Butte, where he owned and operated his own takeout pizza business. He made lifelong friends wherever he traveled.

He returned to Nebraska by way of Bridgeport, working in computer sales and repair with sisters Jenny and Jean, and spouses, doing volunteer ranch work in his spare time. In the early 1990s he began working as a surveyor for his dad Rollin's business, Pine Ridge Land Surveys Inc., in Chadron. He bought the survey business some years later. He was Dawes Country Surveyor from 2011 to the present. 705 surveys were recorded under Phil’s surveyor number LS-664 at the State Surveyor’s office from 2007 to 2021. He did surveys in South Dakota under SD LS-10185.

In partnership with his brother Andrew he bought and ran the Brun's Laundry/Ice Cream Shop property from 2017 to 2022 while continuing survey work. He believed it was important to take time to visit with people even on long days in the field. On snow days, he cleared people's sidewalks on the way to office or laundry. Phil was always ready to assist with ranching and carpenter work. He was a lifelong supporter of Chadron High School and Chadron State College. From 2014 to 2021 Phil made yearly week-long camping trips into Oregon, Wyoming, Montana with his sister(s) Jennifer and Jean, and nieces Lauren and Rachel and lucky guests. Phil was a favorite uncle of nieces and nephews because he made time to visit, play, and take them fishing, hiking, and camping. And he loved sports, basketball maybe the best. He could be counted on to shoot baskets.

"Uncle Phil could be seen at any of his nieces' and nephews' sporting events with that tell-tale side grin on his face and a "good game kid". He was the type of uncle who was always up for a game of 21 with pointers/advice given freely. Hot summer days ended perfect with a cold root beer float at his place with some hand-tossed pizzas that he would twirl high into the air like the old days. He loved the outdoors and believed in some good fresh air and a nice walk. A lot of our first 'jobs' started at the survey office where he instilled the importance of honest, hard work. He was an all-in type of uncle who loved us well and helped shape us into the humans we are becoming." --Lanie Riesen Johnson

He planted and cared for some 30 or more fruit and walnut trees. Always adding pine and black locusts to the collection. He was a serious mountain biker until a knee injury, and enjoyed reading history books, cooking Italian for company, and raising a garden. He and "Brother Al" met in evenings for friendly cribbage games, news and old Westerns watching. They and Andrew consulted together on weather, land conditions, and heavy machinery.

Phil’s dog, Miss Riley, a border collie/blue heeler mix, seemed like more dog than three people needed, but he loved that dog and she loved him. Philip Curd is survived and remembered by 9 brothers and sisters and spouses, 45 nieces and nephews, Aunts Lorraine and Lucille, and cousins throughout the States.