A celebration of life for Curtis Dale Ladlie, 73, of Albert Lea will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home. The Rev. Kent Otterman will officiate. Interment will be at Graceland Cemetery.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Online condolences are welcome at www.bayviewfuneral.com. 

Curtis passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his Crest family on Tuesday, July 26, 2016.

Curtis D. Ladlie was born Dec. 30, 1942 in Albert Lea, the son of Henry and Myrna (Yocum) Ladlie. He started attending the first program developed in the state of Minnesota for persons with developmental disabilities. His mother was instrumental in starting the program to create a better life for children with developmental disabilities. Classes were held in the basement of First Presbyterian Church. The program eventually was called the Alpha School. Today, the program is called Cedar Valley Services.

Curtis lived at home with his parents until the age of 47, at which time he moved to Crest Services. Curtis started work at Cedar Valley Services in 1962 doing numerous janitorial jobs throughout the community. Some of his jobs included Olson Manufacturing, Sunset Apartments, Hardees, Liquor Depot, Bill Olson Chevrolet and Dinah’s Style. In 2012 he was honored for 50 years of service, and retired from Cedar Valley Services in July 2014.

Some of his favorite things to do were to take trips to South Dakota, Duluth, Wisconsin Dells and the Mall of America. In his spare time when he wasn’t traveling he loved to fish, go bowling, attend all ARC activities, participate in the hand bell choir at SPIRE, watch movies and listen to music. Elvis was his favorite. Curtis was quite the jokester and loved to tease and laugh with everyone. He was famous for telling people that it was going to snow 2 inches, even in 90-degree weather. He enjoyed talking about the weather and would always ask people how their family was doing. He was a very caring man with a kind heart and gentle spirit.

Curtis is survived by his housemates Chuck, JJ and Troy; his brother, Philip; several nieces and nephews; and his entire Crest family.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

“My ability was stronger than my disability.”