Curtis Kingsley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and grew up attending the East Main church of Christ. He was baptized into Christ in 1956 during a tent meeting on the family farm by J.C. Choate. After graduating high school in 1958, he attended Mississippi State University and went on to earn his Master’s degree from the University of Georgia in 1971. Curtis worked for the Georgia Department of Education and served as an elder for the Piedmont Road church of Christ in Marietta, Georgia for sixteen years before retiring and moving to Ellijay in 1999 and being appointed as an elder in 2001. He was married to Shirley Kingsley over Christmas break during their senior year of high school, and they recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. They have four children, twelve grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.