Alsace Lorraine (Curtis) Sorensen
(Alsace) Lorraine married Neil France Sorensen. Neil was a doctor and Lorraine a RN. They had eight children which they raised in Hanford, California. In order by age: Karen, Eric, Leif, Kristin, Sonja, Lael, Knute and Tove. Our parents gave us Nordic names because of our father’s lineage from Norway. Karen is a Clinical Psychologist, one son Justin. She has three grandchildren. Eric is a doctor, has five children, and 15 grandchildren. Leif and Janice have four children and seven grandchildren. Kristin and Brett have three children and six grandchildren. Sonja had one son and one grandchild. Lael and Lauren have four children and eight grandchildren. Knute and Jackie have three children and five grandchildren. Tove has three children and thirteen grandchildren. Neil and Lorraine established a strong family here in California. Most of their children still live there. Leif Curtis, died January 2023 and Sonja Lois died 6/2016.
Lorraine was also a fabulous chef. Before she died, Kristin and she worked on a collection of her recipes and made a book of remembrance of her and her culinary talent. She was beautiful inside and out. Charlie and Curty rarely came to visit us in California. Our mother was a reserved woman and didn’t complain about not seeing her family. She spoke weekly to her sister and mother. Periodically she and my father would visit them.
Neil loved doing genealogy. He spent decades trying to connect our families together. Lorraine had some names of family but not all. Lorraine did not know of her black ethnicity, nor did she have any contact with her father’s family, because Charlie had left home and never returned and never mentioned his ethnicity to his family. Lorraine may have come to this knowledge when her first cousin and William Curtis' daughter, Juanita Curtis, visited. Years after Neil’s death and because of DNA testing/sharing on Ancestry.com, Angela Diggs Curtis contacted the Sorensens and we have become fast friends and they have rejoined our family! The Sorensens were told that Walter had changed his name. They believe this is why we would come to a dead end when doing Curtis genealogy. They also believe this is how he kept his identity and ethnicity a secret. To them, their grandfather looked white or Italian. When Neil had asked him shortly after marrying Lorraine what their ancestry or ethnicity was, he was told to “mind his own business!”
From Lael: We are all so happy to come to know our mother’s family. We know she is happy and jumping for joy even though she died before we met our Curtis family. We are honored to be a part of the Curtis legacy. The Curtis family is strong and proud and we are so happy to be your cousins!!!
