April 26th, 1928 – March 8th, 2014
Earl passed away peacefully at his home in Victoria, with Yvonne, Karen and Kelly surrounding him. He is survived and will always be hugely missed by his wife, Yvonne, and his children and grandchildren. He was predeceased by MaryJane, his first wife and mother of his children, in 1995. Earl leaves his son and 2 daughters and was hugely proud of them and of their achievements. Karen (Gavin), Jeffrey, Phd Music (Nancy), and Kelly (Drew). He also leaves grandsons, Matt, Daniel, David and Brent, and granddaughters Kimberley and Jennifer. Also surviving him are his brother Jack, sisters Phyllis and Loraleigh (his sister Doris predeceased him). Earl was born in O’Donnell, Sudbury District, Ontario, and grew up in Tweed and Toronto. In 1951 an opportunity arose which would have a profound effect on his life. He obtained a job with a prominent consulting mining engineer, Norm Byrne, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Norm became a mentor to him and the 5 years he worked for him was a continuing process in learning the world of mining exploration and development. Aside from a 5 year return to Toronto working in the investment business, the rest of Earl’s working years were in Yellowknife, Edmonton and Calgary, until his retirement to Christina Lake, BC in 1982. He built his dream home in this spectacular setting and he and his family enjoyed 14 years there, much of that time spent pursuing his passion – golf! Although retired, many opportunities arose to participate in various start-up ventures, with travels to Greenland, Iceland, etc., and the highlight of this period was his participation in the group that resulted in the discovery of the Diavik mine in the NWT. Earl and brother Jack’s (a geological engineer) original public company was Precambrian Shield Resources (the name was subsequently changed to Mark Resources and it is now part of Enerplus Corp). In 1979 it was the first public company to issue flow-through shares, which is still a favoured method for financing junior resource companies. Earl was very proud of this. Earl frequently stated it was better to be lucky than smart and he considered himself living proof of this. He was lucky to have had two great women in his life and lucky to have had outstanding business relationships and partners in his ventures in mining, oil and gas, and commercial real estate (they changed the skyline of Yellowknife with their highrise buildings). His non-business activities included being President of the Northwest Territories Liberal Party in the early 1960s (a riding that then covered one-third of the land mass of Canada), Member of the Yellowknife Public School Board, and in Edmonton he spent 5 years as director and vice-chairman of the Glenrose Provincial General Hospital. He was a member of many golf clubs in Canada and the U.S.A. – his favorite the Mountain Course at the LaQuinta Resort and Club in California. His last club membership was the Royal Colwood course in Victoria. He complained that he never achieved the level of proficiency in golf that he aspired to but he loved the camaraderie and was competitive to the end. Earl and MaryJane’s move to Victoria in 1995 gave them the opportunity to share time with many lifelong northern friends prior to MaryJane’s death. Earl and Yvonne shared almost 18 wonderful years in Victoria enjoying all that the City and Island offers, and travelled often and widely (usually with golf as the theme)! He always said “she’s the rock that keeps me alive”. In the past 5 years he took great joy in spending time at his “cottage” on Gabriola (lucky again – that Karen and Gavin moved to Gabriola to provide him with his fabulous “cottage”) stacking wood, having a martini or two, and warming by the fire. Earl maintained his life long interest in music of all types, but particularly jazz, and spent many hours in the late stages of his life with his headphones on enjoying the old performers such as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and his all time favorite big band Count Basie. To Earl’s old buddies he wished to say “farewell” and hoped that they would have one martini (at least) ‘for the road’! As he often said “it’s been a helluva ride”.
Earl specifically requested that there be no funeral or memorial functions. He would like a celebration to be a family affair to take place on Gabriola in the summer when our far-flung family can gather. Yvonne and the entire Curry family would like to specially thank Dr. David Attwell and Sheila Harwood, as well as Dr. Peter Pommerville, for their incredibly compassionate care and for their friendship over the years. We would also like to thank Victoria Hospice Home Care and the Palliative Care Team. In lieu of flowers, if you would like to pay tribute to your friend Earl, among the charities he liked to support were Our Place Society, Victoria, BC, Victoria Hospitals Foundation, Victoria Hospice in Home Palliative Care, Canadian Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, Edmonton, or of course any charity of your choice. As you might all imagine…….Earl had a large hand in the writing of this obituary, and we promised that it would be printed as he wrote it! We can only hope that he would not mind that we have added a number of thoughts that we knew were extremely important to him! Condolences may be offered to the family below.
“Farewell my Earl. Travel safe.”
McCall Bros. Funeral Home
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Kristine Kusnyerik
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Nora Drugge Dear Kelly, Drew, David and Brent,
Kelly, we were on a ferry going across to Vancouver Island when we read in the Globe and Mail your Dad’s obituary. I did not know your father but remember many of your comments about your Dad over the past number of years. I was always impressed with his ability to make decisions about his health problems, carry them through then go on to live life to the fullest for another number of years. Losing a parent is difficult and I hope your being with him at the time of his death has brought you some comfort. My thoughts are with you and your family. Love Nora
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Dr. Ehor Gauk My sincere condolences to Earl’s family who I first encountered as a lowly resident at Sick Kids when Jeffery had a little problem.
With my minimal persuasion Earl became a fellow board member at the Glenrose Hospital at a time when it was at the very beginning of what is now a world class rehabilitation facility. He brought friendship, confidence and horse sense to all of our gatherings.
As luck would have it, his good friends Eleanor and Walter Clark settled across the street from my home. Earl will always be one of the most respected individuals I’ve ever met.
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Pat LeSage The Curry Family
Wonderful obituary in the newspaper. Thought it captured Earl perfectly.
Having grown up in Tweed I came to know and respect all the Curry family. Jack was a classmate, Phyllis was a teenage girlfriend . Earl wasn’t around Tweed all that much when I was growing up, but was there often enough that I did come to know him.
A fine person. An outstanding Canadian. The kind of individual who has had a significant hand in making Canada, particularly the mining , resource and investment industries, what they are today.
Please accept my sympathy on the loss you have all suffered. But the solace of the life Earl lived , will provide all his family with a great sense of pride.
Pat LeSage
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Bill Macpherson To Jeff, Karen and Kelly (and Yvonne)…so sorry to hear of the passing of your father (husband). I remember your Dad very well and always admired his joviality, love of life and recognition of what he had achieved in his career. He was a great friend (as was MaryJane) to Norman and Ethel back in the days when Yellowknife was a pretty small town. Now we are all of that age ourselves. It is very comforting to know many of you were able to be there at his passing, something which didn’t happen for us when Dad died so unexpectedly.
My sincere condolences on your loss – Earl was a fine man. I’m sure all my siblings echo these thoughts, and I will inform them of this unfortunate news….with sympathies, billBill Macpherson
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Qing, Isaac and David Barss Dear Curry Family,
Please accept our sincere condolences for the loss of Earl. He was such a delightful gentleman and had an enduring influence on me both personally and professionally. I will think of him often and treasure the fond memories of our many visits and phone chats as we explored the world of capital markets, and more importantly life itself!
Earl was especially proud of his family, and am sure he will be missed a great deal.
We send you peace and love,
Qing, Isaac and David
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Ruth King Dear Kelly & Drew: Although I had never met your Father, Earl, I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to you. Jan will now have another wonderful friend to share her heavenly life.
Love Ruth
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phyllis and jack raycroft Jeff: We offer our sincere sympathy to you and your family on the passing of your father. We know how much you will miss him. Please know that our love and prayers go out to all of you at this sad time. Phyllis and Jack.
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Gail and Victor Aldrete To all the Curry family,
We came to know Earl after his choosing to “join forces” with our friend Yvonne, which only goes to show how smart a man he really was. Although he said he was more lucky than smart, we do not believe that to be so. Over the last decade we have had many opportunities to visit with both him and Yvonne, and through them getting to know of his family and how enormously proud he was of all of them. The last few years and months we saw Earl facing the quick approach of the end of this life. I personally had a very good conversation with him about his thoughts on death and its forthcoming arrival. He told me directly he had no fear of dying and felt very comfortable with how all this was coming about, for his discomfort was not severe enough to be of much concern. It was my great honour and pleasure getting to know an honest and wise man who displayed these virtues so well at the most crucial time of life.
To Earl’s family, we will miss him as well.
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Brenda Gerard To the Curry family(families), my deepest sympathy on the passing of Earl….your Father, Husband, Grandpa, & Brother. When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a wonderful treasure to always hold in your heart. We met Earl & MaryJane at Christina Lake, where my husband Ken (deceased) and Earl would golf competitively a few days out of our week vacation!! The stories were endless and Ken really enjoyed spending time with Earl, whether it be on the course or sitting over a drink, listening to Earl’s wisdom. He was a great man.
Brenda Gerard
Although we knew the day was coming we were very saddened to read about Earl’s passing; the world is now a lesser place without him. If there is an upside to cancer it would have to be the time we get with our loved ones and it seems that Earl was able to spend his last days doing what he loved most, relaxing, listening to good music and spending time with his wife and family. Earl and Yvonne were one upside to my father passing of cancer in 2008. In your last days you find out who your true friends are and Earl was one of my father’s only friends and definitely a true friend at that. Ladi and I can’t thank Earl and Yvonne enough for being there for us, providing sound advice, and a shoulder to cry on during his illness but mostly for being there for my father. Since 2008 we would get together with Earl and Yvonne around my dad’s passing/Early birthday to reminisce. The last few years got away from us since starting a family, however Earl called us in late fall to tell us that he was dying. We were lucky to have been able to have a nice visit with him with our daughter prior to his passing.
Our condolences go out to Yvonne and family. Remember Earl in his health, out on the golf course, sitting by the lake, I will remember him relaxing in his recliner cuddling with my daughter.
With love Kristine, Ladi and Marketa