Thomas Curry, longtime cross country and track coach and math teacher, dies at 82

Thomas Curry measured his achievements by the impact he had on others.

On his students, athletes, children, family and friends.

Curry, a longtime Lindenhurst resident and former cross country and track and field coach who taught math at Copiague High School for over 20 years, died Nov. 30 from kidney failure at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, his family said. He was 82.

“Treat people as you would expect to be treated, and it makes the world a better place,” said son, Tom Curry of Blue Point. “I think there’s no question that he led by example with that, and he passed that along.”

Born on May 7, 1941, Curry grew up in Valley Stream before pursuing a career as a Franciscan priest,  leaving for seminary school when he was 13. He attended Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey and played on the school’s baseball team.

Curry earned a bachelor’s degree in theology before pursuing a master’s in education from Columbia University, then finishing at Stony Brook University.

He taught algebra and calculus at St. John the Baptist High School as one of the school’s first teachers in 1967, where he met his wife-of 47-years, Lorraine, who worked as a secretary in the school’s main office.

Curry moved from St. John the Baptist to East Rockaway High School, then to Copiague High School in 1982 where he worked until 2006.

“He really did have the passion to serve, to help others,” said son Dave Curry, of Lindenhurst. “My parents were both kind, generous people that taught us that the best thing in life is to give. And it definitely came from him.”

As a cross country and track coach, Curry guided a number of athletes to county and state championships, and he won Suffolk League IV’s Track Coach of the Year in 1996.

One former student athlete at Copiague, Robert Foster, represented Jamaica in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1996 Olympics in at Atlanta and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

“He just absolutely loved helping his students and the kids that he coached in any way that they needed,” Tom Curry said. “It wasn’t just about becoming a better athlete or how they can apply math to their lives in the future, he just wanted to make people better, and make it fun in the process.”

Curry was a lifelong Dodgers fan who loved Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. In addition to coaching, he loved watching sports, from baseball to college basketball.

“I remember him telling me the story of when they announced the Dodgers were leaving Brooklyn, him sitting on the curb and crying,” Tom said. “To the day he died, he followed how the Dodgers were doing.”

“Instead of picking up the Mets when they came to town, he didn’t. He eventually became a Yankees fan, but I remember watching the 1981 World Series [between the Yankees and the Dodgers], and he was definitely not rooting for the Yankees then,” Dave said. “That’s really one my earliest memories of watching baseball, watching my brother scream for the Yankees and him scream for the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series.”

Curry volunteered as a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church of Lindenhurst along with the Knights of Columbus of Lindenhurst.

He later served as a bailiff for the Court of the Village of Lindenhurst and as a Lindenhurst Code Enforcement Officer.

Curry worked alongside William Des Jardin who, once Curry moved into an assisted living facility later in life, visited him every Friday with pizza, a copy of the newspaper, iced tea and apple pies. 

“I only knew him for five years, but it felt like I knew him for a lifetime,” said Des Jardin, of Lindenhurst. “He was just a great man, he really was.

“He never talked about how he felt, he always talked about his family. I told him he did a darn good job raising his kids.”

In 2003, Curry told Newsday, “If long after I’m gone, I heard that students said I was a good teacher and that they enjoyed going to my class, I would have achieved something.”

In addition to his sons, Curry is survived by his daughter Eileen Carty of Fairfield, Connecticut,  brother Kevin of Levittown, nine grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, who died in 2015.

A memorial service was held at Lindenhurst Funeral Home on December 3 and a mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church of Lindenhurst was said on December 4. He was buried at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.