Mrs. Valerie Watson Curry

VALERIE CURRY Valerie Watson Curry was born on December 2, 1938, in Santa Ana, California. She was the daughter of Bette Wade Watson and Captain William Weber Watson of the U.S. Army Air Corps. She attended Fullerton Junior College (CA), Whittier College (CA), and the Saint Louis Institute of Music (MO), and graduated from the University of South Carolina Beaufort. Mrs. Curry worked for the Walt Disney organization for 13 years, first as a hostess to visiting VIPs on private tours through Disneyland. She worked at WED Enterprises (the Disney design facility in Glendale, CA), as secretary to the master planner of Walt Disney World, and finally at Walt Disney World (FL), organizing and heading up the Guest Relations Department. While working at Disneyland she was selected by Disney executives to be the first "Miss Disneyland" in 1962. Valerie and her husband. John F. Curry, arrived on Hilton Head Island in August 1973, with their four month old son, Donn. She became active in the community, serving the Sea Pines Montessori School as president of Parents Association, and Sea Pines Academy on a variety of committees. She was a board member of Hilton Head Institute for the Arts, as well as at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. She served for 7 years on the Beaufort-Jasper Higher Education Commission for the University of South Carolina-Beaufort, where she endorsed a 4-year baccalaureate program for USCB. Mrs. Curry was active in island cultural events, primarily for the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, on whose board she served as a director. She chaired the committee to organize the first Hilton Head International Piano Competition and served as its Chairman-Director in 1996 and 1997, returning in 2003 as Competition Director for three more competitions. She was a graduate of Leadership Hilton Head, class of 1993, and received the Rowley Citizenship award in 2006. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church. Valerie was preceded in death by her husband, John Foster Curry in 2008, and is survived by: son Donn Curry of Hilton Head, stepsons David Curry (Rozana) of Burbank, CA, Edward Curry (Kelly) of Toluca Lake, CA, and grandsons Adam Curry and Matthew Curry, as well as her sister, Mcrideth Laureno of La Quinta, CA. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, October 6 at 11 a.m. at The First Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity fund that has been created on Valerie's behalf: In Memory of Valerie Curry, PO Box 3501, Hilton Head, SC 29928. The Island Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.