Curtis J. Overdahl was a navigator in the 748th squadron of the 457th bomb group in the 8th Air Force during World War II. He flew 32 combat missions over occupied Europe during the first half of 1944, including "Big Week" and several missions in support of the D-Day invasion. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal in recognition of his wartime service. Born in 1917, he was raised on a farm near Elk Point, South Dakota. he studied mathematics at Augustana College in Sioux Fall, SD before enlisting in the Army Air Corps.

After the war, he completed his undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota and also earned a masters degree. He earned a doctorate at Purdue University before joining the faculty of the Soils Science Department at the University of Minnesota, where he remained for 34 years before retiring. Togther with his wife of 47 years, Helen (Beneke) Overdahl, he raised a family of three children.