Curtis Brown: Family Friend and Handyman

Sometimes having a childhood friendship can turn into a lifelong relationship. Curtis Brown, SAV-ON’s maintenance and handyman, grew up in the same neighborhood in Seattle with SAV-ON co-owners Phil and Rick Devitte.

After growing up together they went their separate ways. Curtis enlisted in the army, while Phil and Rick followed in their dad’s footsteps and joined SAV-ON Insurance.

Flash forward a few decades and Curtis, after studying electrical engineering and working in carpentry and building maintenance, connects back up with the Devittes and becomes their part-time building maintenance and security guard.

He’s been working with SAV-ON for about 10 years now, and lives close to the Des Moines office providing handyman services, building maintenance and what he laughingly calls “a part-time security guard”. While he keeps the buildings in good shape and monitors the parking lot, he also doubles as security in the evening keeping ‘unwanted guests’ and vagrants from hanging around.

“I enjoy all the SAV-ON employees, and I like what I do. I don’t mind helping them, except for the parking lot issues,” he says. It seems some of the customers can get a little testy trying to find a place to park there.
He has a favorite story from a few years ago about trying to find a lost box of files that Rick needed to find. He looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. “It was driving Rick crazy. Then, two or three months later, it turned up right behind one of the women at a desk in the office. The only place I hadn’t looked!”

Outside of work, Curtis has a favorite hobby. “I love to fish,” Curtis explains. When asked where he prefers to fish, he says, “I’ll go fishing wherever there’s water.”

For him, that can mean anywhere from Puget Sound and Lake Washington to lakes in eastern Washington.

Curtis grew up in a large family, with four brothers and six sisters. Being the eighth of 11 children can be daunting. “With all those kids, it was difficult for my parents to spend a lot of time with any one of us,” Curtis says, “But they did their best.”

Curtis has never been married and has no children, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t part of a large family. He estimates he has over 200 nieces and nephews!

When he’s not maintaining the building or monitoring the parking area, he loves to garden. At one time he had a garden that produced corn, zucchini, cabbage, lettuce, beans, peppers, and strawberries. He shared much of his crops with the SAV-ON employees and gave away more to his large extended family.

When asked what he brought to the job that made him unique, he thought for a moment, and then joked, “I don’t care if I get fired.” How many people can say that?

Where will he be in five years? “I’m 67 now. I hope to be somewhere fishing!” he says without hesitation.

In the meantime, he’ll be keeping the Des Moines office building maintained for long-time friends Phil and Rick Devitte, and fishing whenever he gets a chance.