Curtis Booker

Curtis Edward Booker, 58, died peacefully at home on June 4 in Houma, La. A musical memorial service to celebrate Curtis' life will be held at Chauvin Funeral Home in Houma, La on Saturday, June 24th beginning at 3 p.m. until the Celebration of Life at 6:00 p.m. If you wish, donations in his honor can be made to www.thefirsttee.org an organization that teaches golf to inner city youth. Born in Gallup, N.M. on Jan 30, 1959, Curtis spent his growing up years living on Indian Reservations all over the American Southwest, and in beautiful Montana. His father, Ray, worked for the U.S. Govt. Bureau of Indian Affairs trying to improve the situation for people living on these lands, and the family moved a lot. On the reservations, Curtis said he learned to be tough and run fast. He developed into a natural athlete, excelling at every sport and breaking track records. Curtis especially enjoyed his high school years as quarterback of the football team in Pocatello Idaho, where his good looks and star talent made him very popular, and where adoring girls first began hanging around. When his family moved again, his classmates drew up a petition asking that Curtis be allowed to stay in Pocatello!  When an unfortunate injury stopped his football career, Curtis took a side step into music, acting and dance. Music was very important to the Booker family. Curtis' father played many instruments, and his mother Eloise taught her children to play the piano and the organ. She took Curtis to tap dance classes from an early age. Curtis was a natural song and dance man since the age of 3, so much so that his grandfather nicknamed him "The Senator" because he really liked to talk and be center stage. As a youngster Curtis regularly won blue ribbons at music festivals. Very disciplined from years of sports training, Curtis worked very hard to perfect a piece, a trademark of his enduring musical excellence.  Audiences all his life would respond with standing ovations and great joy in hearing him. He went on to have a long and distinguished career as an entertainer.  His parents sent him to the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and then to American University in Washington D.C., where he met 2 influential people in his life: A 17 year old Meredith Wright (of Houma, Baton Rouge and DC) who had an enduring crush on him. The two remained friends all their lives, and eventually reunited in 2015.  And Susan Height Denny, a former Broadway star who instantly recognized Curtis' gift and nurtured it. Sue championed Curtis in his work as an actor, singer and dancer, introducing him to influential people including David Baker who was Judy Garland's own accompanist.   During college years, Curtis performed at King's Dominion in Virginia, and he charmed audiences all around the D.C. area at The Lazy Susan and Harlequin Dinner Theatres, performing leading roles in classic musicals like: Oklahoma, Carousel, Fiddler on the Roof, Pal Joey and more.  He honed his acting skills in serious dramas like Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  Encouraged by Sue Denny, Curtis moved to New York in 1981. Auditioning for one show, the producer told him he would not be hired because he was "too young, too good looking, and too good a singer". He would upstage the star! Eventually he was cast in the hit Broadway musical 42nd Street and performed at The Majestic Theatre. In NYC Curtis met his first wife, Renee Burkett, a singer and model.  They moved to Hollywood, where Curtis joined the Orange County Singers, and continued to perform in productions ranging from musical theatre to Opera. As a gifted tenor, with a very professional work ethic, he was a sought after back up vocalist. He could show up and get it right on the first take, a skill that got him work at Capital and Columbia recording, singing with legendary artists like Barry Manilow, Bob Dylan, James Ingram and Dolly Parton.  In L.A. Curtis also did modeling work, made promotional TV commercials, and eventually had roles in hit TV shows like Murder She Wrote with Angela Lansbury, and Columbo with Peter Falk. Following in the footsteps of Bob Hope, Curtis did a tour with the USO, entertaining our troops and veterans around the country. Leaving LA in 1994, he returned to the East Coast to perform in The Wizard of Oz as The Cowardly Lion, a role he was so popular in, he was asked to reprise it 4 times. (Let me at 'em.... Let me at 'em !!!!) Back in Virginia, Curtis met his second wife Tedde Thompson. He moved to the Cayman Islands for 4 happy years, living by the beautiful blue ocean and playing a white grand piano in tuxedo and tails, singing love songs nightly at The 5 Star Marriott Beach Resort. With a voice like buttermilk, no one else could sing a ballad like Curtis.  He recognized in the Caymans, that he had the skill to figure out what was going on with individuals who gathered around his piano, and then he played a song that seemed to fit the person's needs and would comfort them, or lift them up. It made him very happy when audiences walked away with all he could give them. Eventually returning to the US, Curtis married for the third time, Robin Viverett, of Richmond. He taught voice, and piano, and bartended - another one of his passions - mixing the best drink on the planet!  Sadly, a freak accident that knocked out his two front teeth, led in 2010 to the discovery of stage 4 oral cancer. With faith and devotion to God, the raw toughness learned in his childhood, and Robin by his side, Curtis weathered this storm and beat back this cancer. During this time Curtis also followed in his father's footsteps and became a Master Mason, even awarded the honor of "In Perpetuity".  Accepting that his musical career was over, Curtis turned his focus toward golf, the next and last greatest passion of his life. His beloved grandfather had taught him the game, and the tools and philosophy of golf had helped him live through the cancer. During his cancer treatment, his memory also turned toward Meredith, his friend of so many years. In 2015, he sought her out and moved to Louisiana to live with her.  He adored Louisiana, the food, the music, the warmth of the people. He was a member of Ellendale Country Club in Houma where he shot some great rounds! In a very short time he made enduring friendships, and impacted all he met with his warmth, charm and wit.  Meredith convinced him to sing again, and he performed a few more incredible concerts, the two of them doing a few duets together that melted hearts. In 2016 Curtis' cancer returned. He and Meredith battled it together, journeying to Mexico, Los Angeles, and DC for the best possible treatments. Having finally found a place to call home, and people to call family, Curtis longed to live!  In his last days he was surrounded by love and loving people. His final words were " I have been so blessed. So blessed! Amen."  He is survived by his father Wesley Ray Booker, mother Eloise Booker, brother George Wayne Booker and sister in law Jan Booker, sister Nora Louise Booker, nieces and nephews and friends, Meredith Wright his sweetheart, and a cat named Tootie. Chauvin Funeral Home, Inc., is honored to serve the Booker family.