Rex Curtis
Rex Campbell Curtis was the son of Alan and Mavis Curtis and was brought up in the Exclusive Brethren in Auckland, New Zealand.
Rex left the Exclusive Brethren in the mid 1960’s at age 19. He later married Corellie and together they had two daughters.
His upbringing within the Exclusive Brethren troubled Rex throughout his life and one day in the summer of 2001, Rex chose to die rather than to continue living with his pain.
In a manner chosen by several ex-members, Rex made a strong statement of blame in the timing and selected location of his death. He had never attended the Perth Meeting Room as a member of the Exclusive Brethren.
The body of Rex Curtis was found hanging from a tree in the grounds of the Perth Australia Meeting Room following the normal Tuesday night Ministry Meeting on July 17th, 2001. At that time, the Perth Meeting Room boasted landscaped grounds and had a number of mature trees. Two young children were playing following the meeting and found Rex between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm.
The authorities became involved and on this occasion, a suicide note was retrieved. It had been taped to his body. The note made it clear that Rex intended his death to be a statement. According to those who have seen the note, it clearly blamed the Exclusive Brethren for “ruining my life”.
The authorities believed that Rex had died some time during the previous Sunday evening on July 15th, 2001 and had remained where he took his life until discovered two days later. At the time, the media were dissuaded from reporting the incident in detail out of respect for his grieving family in New Zealand.
The Exclusive Brethren reaction was to spread the rumor that Rex had “wanted to be near the Brethren, so he chose to die near them”.
Rex Campbell Curtis was born in 1946 and died aged 55. One of his daughters wrote lovingly in a web obituary a few years later:
“He lived in Perth, however, he was born in New Zealand. Most of his family are still in the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand. His wife, Corellie, and two daughters miss him very much, but we know that one day we will see him in Heaven, happy and well.”
