Mary McCurdy
Waterford — Mary T. (Enright) McCurdy, 95, died Feb. 9, 2020, after a long battle with dementia. She was born July 27, 1924, in East St. Louis, Ill., the daughter of James Patrick Enright and Cletus (MacDonald) Enright.
She left East St. Louis to attend the U.S. Naval Training Station at Hunter College in the Bronx, N.Y. Other significant duty stations included San Bruno, Calif., and Treasure Island, San Francisco, Calif. Mary had many memories from serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. One of those memories was meeting Vinny McCurdy on the dance floor at the naval base in San Bruno, Calif. When the war was nearing its end, she married Vinny McCurdy. They moved to Rhode Island and raised a family of five children. She enjoyed sewing, cake decorating, dancing and golf. Raising children never deterred Mary from being employed. In the early years, she was a stay-at-home mom, running a tailoring and dry-cleaning business called Shore Cleaners and Tailoring. Later, when her kids were older, she worked in several factory positions, eventually landing her final job working in the Human Services department office for the State of Rhode Island. This was one of her fondest positions. Mary and Vinny retired to Florida, keeping busy with painting, golf, dancing and traveling for over 20 years. As dementia began to take away Mary’s independence, she lived with daughters Pat and Kathy and finally, spent her last couple of years living at Crescent Point at Niantic, near her son.
Surviving her are daughters, Patricia Malo and husband Ted, Janet Ashman and husband Glen, and Kathy Dennen and husband Gene; as well as son Vince McCurdy and wife Jane; and nine grandchildren: Christina and Shaun Malo, Paul and Adrian Ashman, Jessica and Michelle Dennen, and Thomas, Patrick and Hillary, who preceded Mary in death, McCurdy; and nine great-grandchildren: Gerrit, Trevor and Anneke Dam; Cole and Emma Malo; Bethany, Julia and Ruth Ashman; and Georgianna Winter Lima.
A private family military funeral service will be held at Rhode Island Veterans cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.