Margaret “Peggy” Reynold Curtis passed away peacefully on the morning of Nov. 4, 2023, from natural causes after a long and adventurous life.
Peggy was born at home on March 28, 1930, in North Platte, Neb., to her parents Charlotte Littlefield and Donald Reynolds. Peggy attended a one-room schoolhouse for most of her childhood and went on to graduate from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a degree in business.
It was at the University of Nebraska that she met the love of her life, James “Jim” L. Curtis Jr. Peggy and Jim were married in North Platte, Neb., on May 15, 1952. After a honeymoon in Cuba, Peggy and Jim returned to Saguache, Colo., to operate Flying X Cattle Company, Inc., along with Glenn Curtis and Gordan Gothelf. Peggy’s father was worried about her new life in Colorado, so he sent her with a working cow horse and a milk cow and further insisted that she received every vaccine available to survive the “San Luis Valley wilderness.”
Peggy embraced ranch life in Colorado, as she had grown up on her family’s farm and ranch in Nebraska during the Great Depression. Peggy could always be counted on to feed ranch hands and facilitate annual parties with local ranchers and those supporting the agriculture industry in the San Luis Valley. While on the ranch, Peggy enjoyed horseback riding, looking for arrowheads, being chased by longhorn cows, keeping the prairie dog population at bay, raising cattle dogs, and keeping the cookie jar filled for anyone who would come visit the ranch. Peggy andJim kept an RV on their grazing allotment in Saguache Park for many summers. It was there that Peggy ensured her grandkids were a part of the cattle business and rode horses through many miles of high country trails regardless of rain, snow, or thunderstorms. Many trail rides involved catching small brook trout in streams that most people didn't know existed. When exhausted, Peggy convinced her grandkids that stacking flat rocks to twice their height was a normal day in Saguache Park.
As Peggy and Jim handed over the ranch reins to the next generation, they began to enjoy traveling in their RV. Peggy would always take her grandkids with her and Jim on their adventures (school schedules be damned). Oftentimes, she would allow her grandkids to dictate the traveling schedule — this allowed many fortuitous stops near swimming pools, trainyards, and trinket stores. It was an annual rite to visit Peggy’s family homestead ranch in North Platte along the river. Other trips included Galveston (extended 10 days due to a broken station wagon), Decatur, Texas, (with a frozen RV where a cat was adopted and brought home), and many other adventures involving jet boats, amusement parks, and off-road adventures.
Peggy was preceded in death by Jim, her husband of 60 years, her parents, brother Don (Pat), niece Debbie, and son Jay.
Peggy’s legacy lives on with her daughter Anne (Ed) Nielsen, grandsons Scott (Carlin) Nielsen abd Stan (Brenda) Nielsen, two lovely great-granddaughters Eva and Lexie, and her nieces Pam, Diane, and Becky.
Peggy’s memorial service will be at the Saguache Methodist Church at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Abode Hospice and Health of Pueblo, Colo., or a charity of your choice.
