Walt Curry
Funeral services for the late Walter Curry, who died Friday, June 30th at home, will be held Friday morning at Posten’s Funeral Home at 10 a.m.
Visitation for Mr. Curry will be held Thursday at Posten’s Funeral Home on E. Lincoln Avenue, Atlantic Highlands from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m.
Walt, former councilman, active firefighter and first aid volunteer for decades, was a retired teacher from the Middletown school system.
Remembered and honored several times in recent months for the role he has played in assisting in so many ways both the residents and image of Atlantic Highlands, Walter was honored last December by the Mayor and Council and the Fire Department on the occasion of his 80th birthday and the 60th anniversary of his years on the fire department. During those years, Walt served as fire chief three times, in 1981, 1994 and 19954. He also served 58 years on the first aid squad.
Curry was a member of the borough council for five years beginning in 1975, then served on the Harbor Commission from 1987 through 2015.
Local residents all have special memories of Walt, his family and the impact he has had on the Bayshore. During last year’s ceremonies, many firemen, municipal leaders and employees who have served for decades with Walter kept everyone laughing and recalling events from the past and the influence Curry has had on their lives. One of the humorous stories told about the popular gentlemen was the one former Mayor Fred Rast told about his childhood friend, and their early lives together.
The Curry and Rast back yards abutted each other when the Rast family lived on Washington Ave. and the Currys on E. Highland. The two boys were only a few months apart in age, Curry the older, and both remember the nights they camped together in the back yard, the family get togethers of both families whose parents taught each of their children the importance of giving back to the community, always pitching in, always doing their share.
The Rast and Curry families, as well as the Sheehans, go back for generations. Everett Curry was Fred Rast’s father’s shop teacher in Atlantic Highlands High school, before Everett went on to teach in the Middletown system.
One story in particular that Rast told is familiar to most parents whose sons know where the liquor cabinet is in each of their homes and the thrill of sneaking something past their parents.
Rast recalled nights the boys camped in the back yard, then, under the stars, crept into the Curry home to try a sip or two..or three..from one of the liquor bottles. So as not to be detected, they would replace what they drank with an equal amount of water. Like most boys, they continued growing up and moving on, always keeping in the backs of their minds the fun of sneaking something from their parents.
Curry’s father, Everett a former Mayor and equally highly respected gentleman of the borough, was honored at a dinner in his later years. That’s when the adult Rast and Curry boys learned their fathers were far smarter than they thought.
The senior Curry pointed out in his address at the event that he always thought that he could drink more alcohol as he got older…. until he realized it wasn’t so, it was simply that his son and Fred had watered down his house supply.
As for all their years of service to the community, octogenarian Walt said at his 80th birthday celebration at borough hall: “it’s how we grew up. It’s what everybody did.”
Walter Curry has done it well.
Mayor Loretta Gluckstein’s proclamation last December on the occasion of Walt’s 80th birthday noted “few areas of community life have not been touched by Curry’s hands, as friends and family acknowledge with gratitude.
” His dedication to public service and the warmth with which he exhibits it is an inspiration to all of us.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Atlantic Highlands Fire Department or the Atlantic Highlands First Aid Squad
