Direct link to this article...and has Don's picture:
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/030808/met_254915090.shtml

March 8, 2008

Obituary: Don Curtis, pro wrestling's 'Buffalo Bomber' became a promoter

By Jessie-Lynne Kerr,
The Times-Union

Don Curtis, who was known as "the Buffalo Bomber" on the profess ional wrestling circuit in the 1950s and '60s and later became a sports promoter and managed Jacksonville's sports facilities, died Thursday.
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   He was 80 and suffered a massive stroke nine days earlier. He had been staying at the McGraw Center of Caring of Community Hospice of Northeast Florida. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 15 at Hardage-Giddens Chapel Hill Funeral Home, 850 N. St. Johns Bluff Road, Jacksonville. "Don was a true wrestler, not an actor," said former Jacksonville Mayor Jake Godbold, who appointed Mr. Curtis chief of operations for the city's Recreation and Public Affairs Department in 1981 to oversee the Coliseum, Civic Auditorium, Gator Bowl and Wolfson baseball park. "He was not only a great athlete but a man of great character," Godbold said. "I don't know of anything Don took on that he didn't do in a good manner. He had a good business sense and did an excellent job for us and commanded a great deal of respect." When Mr. Curtis retired in 1990, he took delight in helping to raise a grandson and continued to be active in community work, such as the Florida Law Enforcement Games, said his wife of 51 years, Dottie. Being married to him "was probably the greatest thing in the world," she said. "Don loved life and he loved being able to give to other people." Her husband tried to be a role model for young men and was the first volunteer wrestling coach at Bishop Kenny High School, she said. Mr. Curtis also served on the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Committee for the Munich Games in 1972. "Nothing in his life was anything but fun," Dottie Curtis said. Her husband's last pair of wrestling boots have been bronzed and are kept as a special memento, she said. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Mr. Curtis served in the submarine service in World War II before enrolling at the University of Buffalo, where he played football and wrestled. He was inducted into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980. After graduating, he was offered a contract to play football for the Baltimore Colts but he chose professional wrestling because at that time it paid more money. He spent the first six years wrestling in Australia and New Zealand. During his wrestling career, which continued for 15 years, Mr. Curtis became known for his finishing move, The Sleeper Hold. In a newspaper interview in 1989, he said the hold actually pinched an artery feeding the brain, causing the victim to pass out. He also was known for his flying drop kick. Mr. Curtis appeared on more than 1,700 pro cards and wrestled in Madison Square Garden more than 50 times taking on such names as Gorgeous George and Dick the Bruiser. For several years he and partner Mark Lewin held the United States Tag Team title. Mr. Curtis made his Jacksonville debut in 1961 wrestling Hans Schmidt in the Coliseum less than a year after it opened. By 1966, the year he moved to Jacksonville, he was the city's favorite son in sports promotions. His civic and charitable activities included the Police Athletic League, where he was board chairman, coach and teacher; the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch; the Governor's Sports and Fitness Council; the Florida Police Olympics; and the Jacksonville Area Golf Association. In 1975 he organized the United States/Russia Dual Wrestling Meet in Jacksonville. In addition to his wife, Mr. Curtis is survived by two daughters, Lisa Bailey and Elaine Graham, both of Jacksonville; a son, Donald Ackland of Tauranga, New Zealand; seven grandchildren and a sister, Helen Small of Lancaster, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the McGraw Center of Caring of Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, 4715 Worrell Way, Jacksonville, FL 32224, or the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch, 1813 Cecil Webb Place, Live Oak, FL 32060. [email protected],  (904) 359-4374

This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/030808/met_254915090.shtml.

Another news story on Don: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=12130