Husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, businessman, former Marine and Shocker student-athlete, Maurice “Maury” J. Curry ’43 stayed involved with his alma mater after graduating from the University of Wichita with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He was a member of the board for the WSU Alumni Association, and served a term as board president in 1955-56.
As a WU student, Curry was active on campus. A member of a number of student organizations, including the Newman Club, which was comprised of Catholic college students, he also served as vice president and president of Alpha Gamma Gamma and was a student council representative, president of his senior class, a Senior Honor Man — and he played Shocker basketball.
The 1943 Parnassus notes: “Maurice Curry, the only returning veteran to the Shocker line-up, was selected to serve as captain of the 1942-43 season. Records show that this selection was indeed a good one, for the team was always inspired by the presence of this player.”
It was also while a student at WU that Curry met his wife, Renetta Wertz. The couple was married Nov. 9, 1943; they have seven children and, as of this date, 17 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
During World War II, Curry served in the U.S. Marine Corps at Iwo Jima. After returning to Kansas, he was employed by the Wichita-based Western Lithograph Co., and in 1956, he and his growing family moved from Wichita to Houston to set up a branch of the printing company. He was then elected president of Western Lithograph Co. of Texas Inc., a position he held for some 30 years.
Maury Curry died May 9 in Houston.
