Candise Anne Clemmons “Candy” Curlee
February 11, 1971 – October 21, 2026

     Candise Anne Clemmons Curlee, affectionately known to family and friends as “Candy,” age 55, passed away peacefully at her home in Athens, Georgia, in the early morning hours of Wednesday, October 21, 2026, with her son and future daughter-in-law by her side. 

     Born in Lexington, Kentucky, on February 11, 1971, to Janise Anne Meek and Carrel Glenn Clemmons, Jr., Candy grew up spending the school year at her mother’s home in southwestern Kentucky and summers and holidays at her father’s home in North Georgia. Childhood friends will fondly remember her from her early days at Hiseville Elementary School and as a proud 1989 graduate of Warren Central High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky.After high school, she traveled to Athens to attend the University of Georgia, where she joined Sigma Kappa Sorority and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy in 1993. After graduating, Candy worked as a caseworker at the Newton County Department of Family and Children Services in the early 1990s.

     On December 16, 1995, Candy married the love of her life, Mark Daniel Curlee, at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Together, Candy and Mark built a life rich in adventure and laughter. In May 1998, Candy earned a master’s degree in Folklore and Historic Preservation from Western Kentucky University.Candy and Mark built their initial life together in Washington, D.C., while Candy completed several internships in the city and Mark was stationed at the Marine Barracks at 8th & I Streets, before they eventually returned to Georgia. While living in Haddock, Georgia, they welcomed their beloved son, Matthew, in 1999, and Candy continued her museum career in nearby Milledgeville as Program Coordinator, Curator, and Professional Development Director at Georgia’s Antebellum Capitol Museum.The family later moved to Tampa and then Sarasota, Florida, where Candy’s passion for arts curation flourished. Under the guidance of her mentors, the late Kevin Dean and Laura Avery at the Ringling College of Art and Design’s former Selby Foundation Gallery, Candy cemented her love of museum curation. While in Sarasota, she also served as a grant advisor to the Sarasota County Historical Society and chaired the acquisitions committee for St. Joseph Catholic School's annual auction gala.After returning to Georgia in 2008, Candy became a beloved mainstay of the metro Atlanta historic preservation and arts communities. For more than eight years, she served as the Junior Docent Coordinator and Saturday House Manager at the William Root House Museum and Gardens with Cobb Landmarks & Historical Society. Equally gifted in fine arts curation and financial stewardship, she also worked as a Staff Accountant at Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC, specializing in nonprofit accounting.From 2020 to 2023, Candy served as Director of Communications and Operations for the Friends of Historic Mimosa Hall & Gardens in Roswell. Soon after, she joined the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art as a Collection Management Fellow and continued there to serve as MCMA’s Director of Education and Collections Management from 2021 to 2025.Candy also served on the Board of Directors for the Marietta Arts Council, served as an Education Project Grant reviewer for the Georgia Council for the Arts, and dedicated years of service to Sigma Kappa Sorority as the Alumni Advisory Board Ritual Chairman for the University of West Georgia chapter. Above all of her professional accomplishments, Candy’s greatest pride and joy was her family. She will be remembered for her quick wit, her curatorial eye for beauty, her fierce love for those closest to her, and the quiet, extraordinary grace with which she carried herself through every season of life.Throughout her years in the north metro, Candy also found a home in several worship communities, including Due West United Methodist Church in Marietta, Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, and Roswell United Methodist Church in Roswell. 

     Candy was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Mark Curlee; her father, Carrel Clemmons, Jr.; her uncles, James Clemmons, Joe Meek, and John Meek; and her mother-in-law, Betty Curlee. 

     She is survived by her son, Matthew Curlee, and her future daughter-in-law, Sarah Evans, of Athens, GA; her mother, Jan Meek of Horse Cave, KY; her stepmother, Carol Clemmons of Tyrone, GA; her sisters and brother, Dawn Gardner of Horse Cave, KY, Jennifer McCarren (Matt) of Atlanta, GA, and Michael Clemmons (Elizabeth) of Hope Valley, RI; her father-in-law, Reginald Curlee of Stone Mountain, GA; and her brother-in-law, Timothy Curlee (Staci) of Sarasota, FL.She is also survived by her nieces and nephews, Colleen Curlee-Malament (Jared), Kasey Curlee (Thomas), Austin Reynolds (Makayla), Alexis Reynolds (Adarian), Chase Ragland, Addison Gardner, Walker McCarren, Livia McCarren, and Theodore Clemmons; her great-nieces and great-nephew, Ayla Boyd, Malia Reynolds, and Anderson Gardner; her uncles and aunts, Tony and Jackie Clemmons, Diane Clemmons, Jim Meek, and Joe and Helen Curlee; accompanied further by a wide, wide circle of cousins, dear friends, colleagues, and extended family in Kentucky, Florida, and Georgia. 

Candy will be formally laid to rest alongside her husband, Mark, at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia, in a service to be announced soon. 

Click this link to view additional details about Candise's Services: https://my.gather.app/remember/candies-curlee