Goldie Frances Hodges Curry, known since childhood as “Lucy,” died in her sleep Sunday, April 3, 2016, while riding with her daughters for a visit from her home in Durbin to their home in Roanoke, Virginia.
She had recently been diagnosed with liver cancer, which she was keeping a secret from most of her family until her grandchildren’s spring break vacation was over.
Lucy was born on Halloween, October 31, 1928, a daughter of the late Walter Hodges and Goldie Smithson Hodges. She grew up on the west side of Charleston where her parents ran a series of grocery store/restaurants. From her father, she learned the art of making a really great pie. She was a graduate of Morris Harvey College.
She worked in New Castle, Pennsylvania, before marrying Leonard Curry in 1961, and subsequently moving to Sharon, Pennsylvania, where she raised her children. Upon Leonard’s retirement in 1985, the couple moved to the log house they built outside of Durbin on part of the farm where Leonard grew up. They attended Bethel United Methodist Church.
Lucy never learned to drive, and her children sometimes wondered if her having to walk everywhere contributed to her stamina in old age. In her 80s, she fell and broke her thighbone. After surgery and rehab, she walked for a time with a cane until she got to the point she no longer needed it.
Though not exceeding five feet nor 100 pounds, Lucy’s faith and energy made her a tower of strength. She was religious without being holier-than-thou. She was Bible reading, without being a Bible-thumper. She was virtuous, without being stern or cloy. Her life was a shining example of Christian service to church and family and all who knew her were better off for it.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard Curry; a son, Jeffery Curry; two brothers, Walter “Bub” Hodges and James Hodges; and a sister, Dollie Grass.
She is survived by two daughters, Janet Curry and Jeanne Kennedy, and husband, Michael, all of Roanoke, Virginia; a daughter-in-law, Michaelene Curry, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania; four grandchildren, Brandy Curry and Shannon Curry, both of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, and Leo Kennedy and Lilan Kennedy, both of Roanoke, Virginia; and many loving nieces and nephews.
Funeral service is Friday, April 8, noon at Wallace and Wallace Funeral Home in Arbovale with Pastor Allen Johnson officiating. Interment will be in the churchyard of the Bethel United Methodist Church on Back Mountain Road in Durbin.
Memorials may be made to Bethel United Methodist Church or the Durbin Public Library.
Online condolences may be made at www.Wallace andWallaceFH.com