Alumni News
In the Spotlight!! - Curtis Limptom
In many circles in life you will run across an individual who would be saddled with the label, “the voice of reason”. A rather nebulous term, this moniker carries with it some semblance of a calm, cool and collected individual. The name or title suggests that the individual it is attached to is always in control of his actions, thoughts and deeds. This month’s alumni profile features the exploits of a man who comes very close to bearing all these character traits. We speak of none other than Mr. Curtis “Big Reds” Limptom.
A Port Royal original, Curtis has been one of the most reliable and thoughtful sportsman from the eighties fraternity. His character traits as a mild mannered individual trickled down into this approach to the game of soccer he played, and has even manifested itself in the exemplary life he leads. His two daughters are a testimony to that fact.
Curtis entered Kingston College in the fall of 1981. He entered the school with his lifelong friends and colleagues Mabricio Ventura, Jr., Kenneth “Chooch” Neita, Orret Kong, Christopher Telfer and Devon Griffiths. A extremely quiet and mild mannered individual Curtis burst on to the soccer scene at the College when he came in and challenged for the centre half position on the 1983 Colts Soccer team. On the back line he shared the responsibilities with another outstanding sweeper, Mr. David Mais. Together the two were basically impenetrable.
He fondly recalls the game that was played against St. Georges College that year. The buzz was about the skill and attacking prowess of an individual named Ziggy Marley. However, not a peep was heard, as the quiet and humble Big Reds shut him down totally. Mr. Marley was rendered totally ineffective for the entire game. Some of his teammates from the 1983 Colts team are still some of his close friends today. Individuals like Errol “Sala” Lewis, Wayne “Blacka Pearl” Morris, Dean “Spradam” Walker, and Michael Green.
During this budding career, he also led the Port Royal President’s Cup team to title in 1982. It was clear to everyone that Kingston College had landed one of the best “stoppers” during the mid eighties.
It was no doubt that Big Reds was destined to do some damage when he migrated to the Manning Cup level. He lived up to all the hype, and he delivered on the soccer field repeatedly. His exploits helped his Manning Cup team to the 1986 title, and a year later saw his Walker Team to the title. To this day, when he gets together with his friends, the talk almost automatically go back to the 1986 Manning Cup final against Charlie Smith. Eerily reminiscent of the 1983 Colts match against St. Georges, Curtis was given the dubious task of marking national representative Christopher “Belly” Dias. Although nursing a sore knee, Big Reds was up to the challenge. That day Belly had nothing doing, and with the opening salvo from Big Reds being a tackle that the Charlie Smith star flying through the gravel that divided the soccer field from the chevron at the national stadium. As one spectator remarked, “da red bwoy de look like im a go lik bad mine out a Belly ti de.” Moments later, another tackle from Big Reds saw Belly landing in the same spot, a character trait he holds today
In 1989, along with his 1986 Manning Cup teammate Irving Ellison, he left the island of Jamaica to honor a soccer scholarship at St. Francis College in New York City. He still remains eternally grateful to Mr. Trevor “Jumpy” Harris for securing the opportunity for him. In typical Kingston College old boy fashion, he became co-captain of the team in his second year at the school. However, despite his rise to the captaincy, despite doing extremely well in their conference, the competitive level of the college soccer arena disappointed Big Reds. He eventually left St. Francis College and completed his General Business Management/Computer Information Systems degree at Norfolk State University, in Norfolk, Virginia.
Just like on the soccer field, Big Reds excelled in the classroom as well, as he graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors from Norfolk State University, and was honored as an inductee into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society for AACSB accredited universities.
It was during this time in college that Big Reds met his lovely wife Marcia, and they eventually got married in March of 1991. Their fifteen-year marriage has produced two wonderful daughters Quintana (14), and Tatiana (6).
The love for the game of soccer fueled the financing of his college education, and immediately upon graduating from Norfolk State University; he put that knowledge to work. After graduating he started out his career in the Property and Casualty Insurance business in the Virginia market. He spent five years, with the underwriting department, and four years within the claims department of insurance powerhouse USAA. He worked primarily from the Norfolk regional office.
Just like the move from St. Francis to Norfolk State, Big Reds went where the opportunities are. Therefore, he relocated his family to Lawrenceville, GA, and he is now a Litigation Adjuster with Crawford and Company. This company so happens to be the 3rd largest Third Party Claims Administrator. Now that he is settled in Lawrenceville, we expect to hear nothing but good things coming from this mild mannered individual.
It is easy to reflect on the accomplishments of an individual, however, it is often very hard to look at the heart of an individual. However, with Big Reds, it is rather simple. You get what you see. No faking, no pretenses, and no ego trips. In his own words, he remembers those who have helped him along the way, “I would like to say a huge thank you to the following people who have had some type of impact on my life and have provided guidance and encouragement. To my dear wife, I would like to express my deepest respect and love her; she has been there for me, giving me advice and strength when it’s needed most. My big brother Roger, who have been there from the early years, who took me up under his arms and provided me advice, financial security, guidance and a big brother to look up to. To all my Purple brothers, Jumpy Harris, George Thompson, Mr. Ventura, Sr., Mr. Seymour Watson, Basil Wilson, Winston Stewart, Ian Jackson, Rodney, Ranny dread (R.I.P) Duke Fuller (R.I.P.), Dr. Winston, Dennis Johnson, Mr. Goldsmith, and Mrs. Nugent.”
This is same brother who used to put up a bunch of us at his house in Port Royal when we “bun school” to make the trek on the Ferry to hang out, eat fish, festival, and as one of our close colleagues put it, “fi go check di browning dem cross Porty.” We end this profile with a little story that shows the caring family that Big Reds is from:
One day as we “bun school” and traveled to Port Royal for the usual hanging out, one of the rites of passage was to climb on top of the Ferry as it was leaving the harbor in Port Royal, stay atop the Ferry until it was approximately 400 meters out, and dive off the top of the vessel and swim back to shore. On this particular day, we were warned on several occasions that it was not a good day to engage in our ritual diving. However, as “eas ard pickneys”, we decided to dive anyway.
As the Ferry left the Harbor with approximately 5-10 daring souls atop the vessel we left the harbor. The cool thing was for us to all dive at once. Therefore, at the count of ten, we all took the swan dive. To our shock and horror, the closest man to the water in mid air shouted “ Bladda!!!!!”. We all were diving headfirst into a sea full of jellyfish. It was not until we made it back to shore with skin stinging and eyes burning that we realized why we were told not to dive that day. However, Big Reds family members took us in, allowed us to wash off with fresh water, made sure we had our belongings, gave us dinner and sent us on the next Ferry back to town, all the while dying with laughter.
The story is analogous to the way Big Reds treats his true friends to this day. If you are need of anything, he will try to assist you, and make sure that you get back on your feet to trod on to your ultimate destination.
Please drop Curtis a line at portroyaljamaica.com and let him know how proud you are of all that he did for the College, and manner in which he lives his life, even to this day.