Obituary of Donald William McCurry

Donald William McCurry, loving husband, honored father, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away at the age of 91 on Sunday, March 12, 2023. 

Don is survived by Nancy who he married in 1956, his nine children: Gary, Kathy, Patty, Jeanne (Darrell), Diane, Elizabeth (Dan), Thomas (Amy), Megan (RJ) and John, his 15 grandchildren (Travis, Adam, Noah, Austin, Cameron, Sydney, Katy, Maggie, Jack, Lucy, Lexi, Jake, Maceo, Lincoln and Marley), and two great-grandchildren (Jett and Bria). He is also survived by his sister, Karen Decker and was preceded in death by his siblings, LaVerne Daley, Merle and Kenneth. 

Born in Chicago on September 23, 1931 to Agnes and William, his life was punctuated with academic accomplishments, including a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and another Masters in Library Science by Dominican University.

Professional pursuits included service in the Signal Corps of the US Army, followed by engineering and marketing positions at Motorola, marketing studies, product planning and business management consulting at the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Foundation, followed by executive positions with Borg-Warner Corporation.

Don was also active within public libraries, serving as a trustee for the Deerfield Public Library, the Nippersink Public Library and the Northern Illinois Library System. 

Donald moved to The Villages in Florida with his wife, Nancy in 2006 from their residence in Spring Grove, Illinois, and lake home in southern Wisconsin on Blue Spring Lake. The two lived in different parts of Chicago and the neighboring suburbs most of their lives prior except for a brief stint in Chesterfield, Mo in the late 70’s. 

Donald was an advocate of both formal and self-education; he consistently endeavoured to learn something new—from a night school class in French to Ham Radio and on to executive training programs via Northwestern University, he eagerly sought to expand his horizons. 

While he enjoyed an occasional novel, more of his reading tended toward information and fact gathering—how things worked; the association of two or more things; or where in the world something was happening. He was always aware of his location; geography and maps were constantly a draw.

His breadth of personal interests ran wide as his love of learning was deep. Whether sailing, woodworking, piloting airplanes, motorcycle-riding, playing golf, voraciously reading history or studying maps, Don was a student of life, ever on a quest for knowledge and experiences to share. 

A Memorial Mass in Don's honor will be held at 10am on Monday, April 17, 2023 at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church 7081 SE HWY 42, Summerfield, Florida 34491.