Maj. Gen. Evan “Curly” LeRoy Hultman

WATERLOO – Evan “Curly” Hultman, who had an incredible and full life of three careers of public service in the military, law and politics, passed away Sunday Feb 16, 2025 at age 99.

He was born July 15, 1925 in Albia, Iowa, the son of Paul Norman Hultman and Laura Cox Hultman.

He lived his early years in Munterville north of Blakesburg in Wapello County, where his father had a service station.

At age 10, during the Depression, his family moved to Waterloo where his father had invested in property.

“Curly,” as he became known for his locks of blond curly hair, attended East High School, where he was part of the 1941-42 state championship football team and was a multi-sport athlete, captaining the track team, and also involved in the school swing shows.

He graduated from East High in 1943 and enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, working his way up to captain. Curly experienced love at first sight when he saw Betty Ann Hook walk into his 9th grade classroom. They became a couple from that day on, and were inseparable as high school sweethearts. They began a devoted and loving union of 73 years when they wed on Oct. 14, 1944 at Harmony Chapel #5, Fort Benning, Ga. After participating in officer training, and training other officers himself, he was assigned a battalion in the 19th Infantry Division and sent to the Pacific. He participated in the postwar occupation of Japan, locating and destroying Japanese munitions and weaponry.

He remained in the Army Reserve for over 50 years after active duty and would attain the rank of major general in 1980. Curly served in every leadership position from squad leader to commanding general of the 88th Army Reserve Command and the 103rd Corps Support Command in Europe during his distinguished military service.

He and Betty attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City where Curly would attain a bachelor’s degree in 1949 and a law degree in 1952, while Betty would receive degrees in occupational therapy. They returned to Waterloo, where he began practicing law and was elected Black Hawk County attorney in 1956. In 1960 he was elected Iowa attorney general. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1964, losing to incumbent Harold Hughes. While never seeking elected office again he remained a fixture in local and state Republican politics. Viewed as a moderate and believing strongly in a two-party system, Curly was asked by Robert Kennedy Sr. to assist in drafting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which became the basis of all future civil rights legal actions.

From 1969 to 1977 he served as U.S. attorney for the northern district of Iowa, under Presidents Nixon and Ford, and was subsequently retained as a special prosecutor in the conviction of the Wounded Knee case in the murder of two FBI agents in South Dakota. He also served for a time as Waterloo city attorney under Mayor Leo Rooff. He was reappointed U.S. district attorney under President Reagan, serving from 1982-86.

In 1986 he became executive director of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States in Washington, D.C., and subsequently, the International Confederation of Reserve Officers, known by its French acronym CIOR, an organization of reserve officers in the NATO alliance in Europe. In that capacity he worked in conjunction with the NATO Partnership for Peace program to bring former Warsaw Pact nations and some former Soviet republics into the NATO following the fall of the Soviet Union, as NATO expanded from 13 to 30 member nations. He remained active with CIOR after retirement and was named its honorary president for life, only one of two officers in the organization’s history so honored.

He received both the Army’s Distinguished Service Medal from President Reagan in 1984 and the U.S. Secretary of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal in 1994. He also received decorations from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, and the crown prince of Denmark.

Also, locally after retirement he supported and helped raise funds for Cedar Valley Honor Flight and other veteran programs and causes. Hultman Hall at Becker-Chapman American Legion Post 138 in Waterloo is named for him.

He is survived by his children, Stevan Kent Hultman of Chanhassen, Minn., Susan Jane Hultman of Iowa City and Heidi Ann Warrington of Waterloo; 8 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren and a sister, Joyce Jensen.

He was preceded in death by his wife Betty in 2017; and a brother, Gene Hultman.

Visitation will be 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, 2025 at Veterans Memorial Hall, 1915 Courbat Court, Waterloo with additional parking across West Fourth Street in the former Courier building parking lot. Funeral services will be noon Saturday, March 8, 2025 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1301 Kimball Ave., with a Celebration of Life to follow, and an evening celebration from 5:00 – 8:00 pm, at Becker-Chapman American Legion Post 138, 728 Commercial St., Waterloo. The funeral will be livestreamed on the Church’s YouTube Channel.