Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502060029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Curry, 45, had an office at the courthouse square and often could be seen going back and forth to court and making regular trips to Old Town Deli to join other lawyers and courthouse workers for lunch and conversation. He had a fondness for cigars.
"John J. Curry Jr., Attorney at Law," his office sign said. But everyone knew him as Chip.
Curry was a Virginia Tech graduate. He received his law degree from the College of William and Mary.
He is survived by his wife, Martha, and two daughters, Mary, 10, and Anne, 6.
Penny Henley, Curry's secretary for nine years, said her boss was recently touched when Mary asked him to chaperone a group of schoolmates who were going to a Radford University basketball game.
"Chip said he was really honored that she asked him," Henley said.
"I can tell you one thing, he's the best boss that anybody could ever have. ... He never said a harsh word to me."
Curry's even temperament was often mentioned Friday as his colleagues remembered him fondly.
"I've known Chip ever since I've been practicing. ... Chip was always a gentleman to deal with, always very honest and straightforward with you and always very even-tempered," said Marc Long, president of the Montgomery-Floyd-Radford Bar Association.
It was because of the even-handedness, Long said, that Curry was the first person many lawyers and judges thought of when needing a commissioner in chancery for divorce cases to help mediate property and custody disputes.
"And I always thought that he was always prepared and a good lawyer and well respected among his peers."
Curry's death at such a young age also struck a nerve with his colleagues.
"It's really shocking. ... You see these people every day and you take for granted that they're going to be there tomorrow," Long said.
The family will receive visitors today after 6 p.m. at Christiansburg's St. Thomas Church. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the church. Burial will follow at Sunset Cemetery. The family requests that instead of flowers, donations be sent to St. Thomas Church or the Christiansburg Rescue Squad.
by CNB