Willie Curry

Willie Julius Curry also known as Jay, JC, and Kwesi was born on the 4th of December 1932 in Branchville South Carolina and passed away at home in Colorado with family on the 3rd of January 2017.

Today, Mr. Curry, lives on through his wife, Carolyn Kaufman Curry, four children: Wayne Curry, Prinne Curry, Donald Curry, and Diana Curry along with step children Stephen Brown and Sharolyn Tidd. He also leaves behind ten grandchildren: Cheerie Curry, Jessica Curry, Matt Howze, David Howze, Seth Curry, Brittnay Stokes, Daniel Curry, Jude Tidd, Grace Tidd, and Ryker Brown. And his great grandson Ezra Wright Curry whom he never got to welcome into the world.

After losing his father Julius, Willie moved to New York with his Mother Johnnie Mae and sister Gertrud for a better life. He spent his school years in Brooklyn New York and worked a variety of jobs while in Brooklyn before joining the Air Force. Willie was a 26 year Air force veteran who retired as a Technical Instructor (Sergeant), and during his service had the honor of being a member of Tops In Blue Military Touring Performance Ensemble. He continued performing music with various orchestras, jazz bands, and as a solo artist throughout the remainder of his life.

After retiring from the Air Force he relocated to Duluth Minnesota where he worked as the head of maintenance for the Duluth Depot while earning a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master of Science in Psychological Services. He worked in Duluth, MN as a counselor and then as a college professor. While in Duluth he achieve the 32nd level of the Masons, was an active member of the Sufi order, and volunteered on the boards for both the Special Olympics and DRCC. As a professor, he was afforded the honor of becoming an exchange Professor to the University of Ghana. While in Ghana, he adopted the name of Kwesi due to his affinity with the culture and their tradition of naming their children based upon their gender and the day of the week they were born: it was stated that a boy child born on Sunday should be named Kwesi. After retiring from counseling and teaching in Duluth, he relocated again to Colorado with his new wife. Judith. After losing Judith, he met his current wife, Carolyn.

He was insightful, compassionate, wise, and inspirational to most people he met. He was a loving teacher of life skills to his children and mentor to many others. And will always be remembered as our Jazz man.

And so it is.