Philip Curd

Funeral Services for 62-year old 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, at 7:00 PM, also at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

A memorial has been established and donations may be sent in care of Chamberlain Chapel, PO Box 970, Chadron, NE 69337.

Online condolences may be left at www.chamberlainchapel.com

Philip Raymond Curd was born at St Joseph Hospital in Grand Island, NE, July 8, 1959, and passed away March 5, 2022, at his home.

Phil was the sixth child of Dorothea M. and Rollin C. Curd, and would followed by four more siblings.

When he was 8, the family moved to Chadron 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 TV at home, I read a whole lot. 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.”

During the college summers of 1977 and 1978, Phil worked in Helena, MT, with his brother Dave, building houses. After graduating from Chadron State with a degree in business finance, he worked for GT 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.

Phile returned to Nebraska by way of Bridgeport, working in computer sales and repair with sisters Jenny and Jean and their spouses, doing volunteer ranch work in his spare time.

In the early 1990s he began working in Chadron as a surveyor for his dad Rollin’s business, Pine Ridge Land Surveys Inc. He bought the survey business from his dad some years later, and was Dawes Country Surveyor from 2011 until his death.

705 surveys were recorded under Phil’s surveyor number LS-664 at the State Surveyor’s office from 2007 to 2021. He also did surveys in South Dakota under SD LS-10185.

In partnership with his brother Andrew, Phil 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 the 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 sisters Jennifer and Jean, nieces Lauren and Rachel, and lucky guests.

Phil was a favorite uncle of his 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 perfectly 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

Phil planted and cared for some 30 or more fruit and walnut trees, and was 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 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.

Chamberlain Chapel of Chadron is in charge of arrangements for Philip Curd