VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 10/10/06)-Dr. Frank F. Curry, retired missionary to North East India and Philippines for 33 years of service, died June 16, 2006, in Des Moines, Washington, at the age of 89. He was born April 11, 1917, in Grafton, Illinois.
Frank graduated from the University of Washington where he received his B.S. degree in 1939. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Oregon Medical School, and studied at the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School. He served his medical internship in Detroit and received special training at the National Leprosarium, Carville, Louisiana, in the treatment of leprosy. For two years he served with U. S. Army Medical Corps. He was married to Beryl Harriet Newton on August 11, 1940. They had six children.
Frank and Beryl Curry were appointed missionaries of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society on November 18, 1946. They sailed for India on October 9, 1947. Their first assignment was rebuilding the Kangpokpi Hospital in Manipur, North East India, which had been badly damaged during World War II. During their first furlough, the State of Manipur, North East India, was declared a "sensitive area" by the Government of India, and they were unable to return. They were reassigned to serve at the Emmanuel Mission Hospital in Roxas City, Philippines. Frank served as associate director of the hospital and as chief of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In 1965, they returned to India to serve at the Jorhat Christian Hospital and Leprosy Colony. He served as a surgeon in the hospital and leprosy colony. In 1969, there was a need for their services at the Satri Bari Christian Hospital, a 135-bed general hospital, in Gauhati, Assam. Dr. Curry was involved in surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and clinical work. They returned to the United States in November 1979 for medical reasons.
After his retirement in 1980, Frank worked for the Fresno County Department of Health in California. In 1989, Frank accepted a call to be a volunteer medical missionary at the Kwai River Christian Hospital in Hui Malai, Thailand. Then in 1989-90 he was a volunteer missionary surgeon at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Limbé, Haiti.
Frank is survived by his beloved wife, Beryl Harriet Curry, six children: Dr. Robert E. Curry, Frank Lee Curry, Patricia Beryl Curry, David A. Curry, Priscilla Ann Curry Allen, and Paul J. Curry, 10 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren.
A memorial service was held on Monday, June 19, at 2 p.m. at Judson Park Retirement Community, Des Moines, WA. Contributions may be made to Judson Park Resident Funds or American Baptist International Ministries. Condolences may be sent to Mrs. Beryl H. Curry, Judson Park, 23600 Marine View Drive So. #217, Des Moines, WA 98198.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/