Former Gibsons councillor Bob Curry has died.
Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe told councillors and the public of Curry’s passing at the June 5 council meeting.
“I would like to acknowledge councillor Curry’s family and recognize the contribution he has made to the Town of Gibsons,” said Rowe, who also noted that work is nearing completion on a project that was one of Curry’s passions during his time on council – a pedestrian and bike path along Gibsons Way from the Landing to Upper Gibsons.
Barry Janyk, who was mayor during Curry’s two terms on council, remembers Curry fondly.
“I loved that feisty Irishman that was Bob to the core – and his wonderful stories of growing up. We had some great donnybrooks but he’d always have a twinkle in his eye, a slap on the back and we’d share great laughs afterwards. He understood it was the right of honourable men to disagree,” Janyk told Coast Reporter. “We lost a really great man in Robert Curry.”
Former councillor LeeAnn Johnson was also close to Curry. She said Curry was an avid recycler who took great pride in producing just a single can of garbage a year and he loved to walk around town “talking to any and all passersby.”
Johnson also credits Curry for saving her from a nasty fall while they were serving together on the Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan committee.
“Bob once saved me from sliding over a Charman Ravine cliff by holding a tree with one hand and a big stick for me to grip with the other and yarding me up the slippery clay slope,” Johnson recalled. “We were out ‘ground truthing’… Not content with the well-worn trails, Bob and I clambered over rocks and through the bush looking for changes in geology and ecosystems.”
Curry’s time on council included a 2008 recount that saw him re-elected after the initial returns showed he’d narrowly missed retaining his seat.
He was defeated in the 2011 election and afterward offered his thoughts on the tone of that campaign. “There was some venom out there and that was unfortunate to see both sides are guilty,” Curry told Coast Reporter. “There’s no room for that in a small town like ours.”
Curry would have turned 87 this year.
