Hannah Mae Curtis

Hannah Mae Curtis, age 93, died Sunday, February 9, 2024 in Abilene, Texas while under hospice care after a lengthy illness with vascular dementia.

Hannah was born on December 9, 1930, in Waco, to Mary Annie Robinson Curtis, a homemaker and part-time nurse in a physician’s practice, and John Parker Curtis, a spinach farmer in Crystal City.  She was the third of three daughters.  She graduated from Mineral Wells High School in 1948.  She attended North Texas State College in Denton before starting employment with Bell Telephone Company in Dallas.  Not long after, Hannah lived in Houston with her Uncle Harry and Aunt Mary Alice Robinson and attended secretarial school. Then she returned to her family, by then living in Brownwood, and began her career as a secretary and bookkeeper for the City of Brownwood.

On April 2, 1955, Hannah married William “Bill" Tomme, a Korean War era veteran employed with Swift & Company meatpackers, of Brownwood. In February of 1956, their son Curtis was born.

Three years later, Hannah relocated to Brady where she resumed her office career as a bookkeeper for Roddie Wool Scouring Plant. She was an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

On January 5, 1969, Hannah married Carlos Richter, who also attended St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Family life continued on the Richter ranch north of Brady, near the community of Rochelle.  

Hannah is remembered as a loving caregiver to a blended family with three boys: her son Curtis Tomme, John A. Smith, Curtis’ best friend, and Carlos Richter, Jr., stepson. 

“That lady was something else to me,” said Smith, adding, “There are not words to tell you how much she meant to me.” He noted Hannah served as a positive example in business and family life. “There are not enough words to thank her.  I’d call her every Sunday,” Smith recalled. “She was very, very, very positive. She loved me no matter what.  You just don’t get that in life.  I’d go see her as often as I could.  I’d drive her everywhere,” he added. 

“She put up with me from first grade through high school.  And, she didn’t do it because anyone asked.  She just did it.

In the early 1980s, Hannah worked as a bookkeeper in the oil and gas industry for a land man in Brownwood. In retirement, she moved to Abilene, where she joined The Church of the Heavenly Rest, Episcopal, where she was a member of the Order of St. Luke Christian Healing Ministries.  Hannah later became a member of the First United Methodist Church.

Hannah was preceded in death by her parents and her two older sisters, Nancy Jane Huettl and Mary Ann Bower.  She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Curtis Rabon Tomme and Elizabeth Ann Tomme, of Westcliffe, Colorado; John Smith, of Dalhart; granddaughters, Jacqueline Shugart, and her husband, Tanner Shugart, of Amarillo, and Michaela Landis, and husband Drew Landis of Mason; Carlos Richter Jr., of Kerrville; great-grandchildren, Ian Shugart, Hannah Shugart, and Wryn Elizabeth Landis; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

The family wishes to express gratitude to the dedicated and loving caregivers at Lyndale Memory Care, where Hannah resided since 2018, and the compassionate nurses and staff of Hendrick Hospice Care.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Rd., in Abilene.  A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, at First Methodist Church, 202 Butternut St. in Abilene.  A graveside burial service will follow at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, in Oakwood Cemetery, 2124 S. 5th St. in Waco.  In lieu of flowers, Hannah’s family is requesting memorial contributions be made to First United Methodist Church in Abilene or the Order of St. Luke’s Christian Healing Ministries, 438 W. 67th St., Jacksonville, FL 32208 (christianhealingmin.org)