Bookmark & share:

E-mail this page E-mail a letter to the editor Reader Comments (below)

By DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer 12/08/2007

He was 57.

Currie's wife, Barbara, said Friday in a statement that her husband was a brave man and a fighter to the very end.

"At this time I would like to thank everyone who has helped Ron and I in the last year," she said.

"Ron fought a brave fight, just like when he was in Vietnam. He served the city of Waterville with such grace for 30 years and never asked for anything in return.

"He was the type of man that always did for others and never expected anything. He was a great father, brother and comrade to all. He loved his work and his family."

Barbara Currie said even at the end, her husband asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Maine State Credit Union in her name so that she could make donations to the charities of his choice.

The couple said during an interview at their home in August that they learned the cause of the cancer the previous year when he was diagnosed. Currie had lung cancer, non-small cell lung carcinoma.

"I was in Vietnam late '69, '70 and part of '71," Ron Currie said during the August interview. "I was on river patrol and they sprayed both sides of the river banks extensively (with Agent Orange) while we were there."

He said the Department of Veterans Affairs authorized payment for all of his medical expenses due to the apparent Agent Orange connection to the cancer.

Currie joined the military right out of Waterville Senior High School. After that, he was a Waterville firefighter for 30 years.

Currie said he started getting sick July 30, 2006.

Treatments started with radiation and chemotherapy for six weeks. Then, in November 2006, doctors removed his left lung, where the cancer had started.

Barbara Currie said tests showed the cancer was spreading.

He was being treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Over the past couple of years there have been Fire Department-sponsored fundraising events to help the Curries pay for expenses of traveling to and from Boston and to pay for lodging while Currie was being treated.

Capt. David LaFountain of the Waterville Fire Department said firefighters plan to hold a "last alarm" ceremony at the fire house at 10 a.m. Dec. 15, before Currie's funeral at 11 a.m. at the Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church on Silver Street, Waterville.

In the ceremony, Currie's firefighter's gear and helmet will be on display while the final bell rings in his honor. Bagpipes also will play "Amazing Grace," according to LaFountain.

He said the Fire Department will arrange for traffic control with the Police Department at the fire station and along the route to the church.

The family will hold a private ceremony at the Veterans Cemetery in Augusta following the funeral, he said.

Doug Harlow -- 861-9244

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Bookmark and share this story: