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Edward ‘Ted’ F. Curry
Former Southampton resident Edward F. Curry, known as Ted, died on January 17 at his home in Riverhead. He was 68 and a longtime member of the Southampton Fire Department.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he graduated from Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, Massachusetts, and Marquette University in Milwaukee. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army.
As a student at Marquette, a love of photography sent him to Central America to assist National Geographic photographers who were shooting an archeological dig in the Lacandon jungle. He returned to the jungle on his own to take photographs, which were shown in a gallery in Quincy, Massachusetts. He later moved to Southampton to start a photography business that thrived for more than 30 years. For many years, he worked part-time at The Southampton Press, managing the publication’s darkroom and printing the hundreds of photographs from which the editors would choose for each week’s edition.
The Press News Group Publisher Joseph Louchheim said of Mr. Curry, “For someone who worked part-time, he had a full-time presence.”
Pingree Louchheim, a photographer who worked alongside Mr. Curry at The Press for 17 years, said he was “always good humored and always hardworking” even when developing many rolls of film the old-fashioned way kept them in the darkroom for hours. Other colleagues at The Press also remembered Mr. Curry as being quick with a joke.
In The Southampton Press’s 100th anniversary supplement published in 1997, Mr. Curry acknowledged that technology was changing the nature of newspaper publishing and the darkroom’s days were numbered. “Everything I am doing is on its way out,” he said
Once settled in Southampton, he joined the Southampton Fire Department, serving with the Southampton Hose Company for 30 years.
He and his wife, Patricia, who survives him, moved to Riverhead 21 years ago.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Shaun Curry and his wife Tara, and Timothy Curry, all of Riverhead; two sisters, Jane Hall of Rhode Island, Patricia K. Curry of Massachusetts; and three nieces and two nephews and many friends. He leaves behind his beloved dog, Abby, who was his constant companion.
Visitation will be at O’Connell Funeral Home in Southampton on Friday, January 25, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., with firematic services at 7:30 p.m. A prayer service will be held on Saturday, January 26, at 11 a.m. at the funeral home and continuing at the Hampton Road firehouse in Southampton.
Memorial donations may be made to the Southampton Fire Department or the Wounded Warrior Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
on Jan 21, 2013