By STEVEN JUPITER
PROCTOR—Proctor teacher and Selectboard member Benjamin J. Curtis, 46, died unexpectedly after the car he was driving went off the road in Proctor last Friday afternoon, February 17. Though Curtis was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, the cause of death has not been determined, with speculation that a medical episode may have caused him to veer off the roadway. No other vehicle was involved in the crash.
A native of Proctor, Curtis was a 1995 valedictorian graduate of Proctor High School (PHS), where he worked as a social studies teacher at the time of his death. After PHS, Curtis attended Elmira College in New York on scholarship and later received a teaching degree from Champlain College in Burlington.
After several years of service on the Proctor Selectboard, Curtis was appointed Chair in 2023 to replace Judy Frazier, who had taken on the position of Proctor town manager.
A mass will be held for Curtis at St. Peter Church in Rutland at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 27.
