Getting to know you ... AnnaMaria Curry

by Shana Neesvig

Just when you thought you knew AnnaMaria Curry...

Every word Curry speaks is with love and passion, reflecting her respect for life. She is an open book and full of honesty and very little, if any, regret.

She was born Dec. 26, 1939 in Bolzano, SÜditrol, Northern Italy. She has accomplished great feats in her 78 years of life.

Curry was the middle child of five. Being the only girl, she learned how to be tough and roll with the punches from early on.

"My brothers, they were always teasing me," the Thompson Falls woman said with both fondness and despair. She told stories of her bicycling over mountain passes with her brothers when they were training for cycling competitions. "My brothers were good at it, they won bouquets all the time for winning races," Curry reminisced.

She credits most of her learned determination to her mother though. She left Curry's father when AnnaMaria was only 2 years old.

"Divorces were not allowed during that time, so it took a strong woman to leave with five young children. I suppose I learned to be tough from my mother too," Curry said.

Curry's mother worked at a local newspaper from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day. "She was a hard worker, she had to raise us kids alone," Curry recalled. The paper company was called "Athesia." Curry said it was a company that ran a newspaper as well as multiple bookstores and business supply stores. "It was like a chain-store," she said of the company, which still exists today.

When Curry was 21 years old, she decided it was time for her to experience more of the world. She travelled all over Europe. She recalled her experience in Germany as one that stood out; when visiting Hitler's lands, it was really sad.

"My mother did not teach us this part of history. I think she didn't want to scare us when we were kids," she said. Curry believes many small children who grew up in Europe were uninformed about this part of history because it wasn't just Jewish and Polish people who Hitler treated poorly. "He treated people in surrounding areas, and even his own people, bad too."

It was during the eight years in Kaiserslautern, Germany, when she met the love of her life, Clarence "Butch" Curry. He was stationed there serving the U.S. Army. Interestingly enough, communication between the two of them was somewhat impossible. AnnaMaria could not speak English, and Butch could not speak German or Italian (both languages AnnaMaria can speak fluently). True love finds a way though, and it was in Kaiserslautern where the two were married.

In the next few years, the Curry's had two children, a daughter Marion and son Frank. Butch was originally from upstate New York, but wanted to live in Italy. He convinced Curry, with her two children in tow, and another on the way, to go back to Italy and look for work for him, while he was sent back to Massachusetts to fulfill military obligations.

As fate would have it, Curry was unable to secure employment for her husband. Although Curry was scared to leave Europe and move to America, she knew she had to do what was best for her family. She applied for a Visa, and on Aug. 1, 1968, they moved to America.

When Butch finished his military duty in 1970, the Curry's made their final destination stop in Thompson Falls. The family lived on Main Street for 16 years, while they "saved pennies" to buy their forever property outside of town. "I didn't like it here at first. The winters were too cold, nothing like the short winters in Italy," Curry admitted about living in Sanders County.

The area has grown on her, and she takes pride in the many years it took to convert the Curry property into a farmette.

"We planted at least 100 trees," she said as she rested her head in her hands. The property consists of multiple gardens and orchards. "Gardening is my favorite hobby," said Curry. "But, I hate fixing fences all the time," she said with command, addressing bears, cougars, wolves, deer and elk causing havoc on her gardens, orchards and livestock.

Curry spoke German in their home while her children were young. She remembers when her children went to school; the school contacted her and asked her to speak more in the English tongue so her kids could be more successful in the classroom. She continued to learn English, and credits friends and her children for teaching her how to speak English.

She shared a story about her daughter Marion, who was about 8 years old at the time.

"I learned a lot by reading the newspaper. I enjoyed reading 'Dear Abby.' But, there were always words I could not read or understand," Curry admitted. "I would ask Marion to help me when she got home from school. But she was so young she did not know what it meant either," she laughed clapping her hand on her knee.

Butch and AnnaMaria kept busy raising five children; Marion, Frank, Dino, Edward and Diana while working their land and Butch working for Montana Rail Link.

In 1986, just after Christmas, the Curry's had another life changing experience. Butch was at work, unloading a train, when he slipped on ice and fell on the tracks. He didn't get up in time, and the train ran over his ankle. He ended up having an amputation just below his knee.

With encouragement and dedication, AnnaMaria taught Butch to walk again, using a prosthetic.

"We would walk up and down the sidewalk on Main Street over and over again," she said. "After some time, he finally walked pretty straight," she smiled and reached for tissue in unison.

If that wasn't enough, Curry's strength was tested yet again when her son, Frank, was diagnosed with leukemia. They spent more than seven months in Seattle so Frank could receive bone marrow transplants at the cancer center.

"The first attempt did not go well," Curry recalled. In fact, none of them went well, and they only weakened his immune system, making him very sick. At the young age of 42, Frank developed a blood infection. She closed the topic, "Strangely, it wasn't the leukemia. The blood infection ended up killing him."

Life didn't get any easier for Curry. Butch passed away just over a year ago from a stroke. She stoically outlined details of this day, re-affirming what a remarkable woman she is. She's strong, clear, confident and definite about her life and her role in it.

Like any resilient woman, she turned the conversation to "feel good" topics. She was 48 years old when she got her driver's license.

"Butch became ill with heart problems, and I did not want to be stuck in the county at home!" she exemplified. "Before getting my license, the kids and I would walk to the store taking turns pulling the wagon, to hold flour, sugar, all that stuff."

"My husband didn't even teach me how to drive," she laughed. "He took me to the airport, with the kids in back of the truck, and had me drive it with no power steering, brakes, or automatic transmission." Animatedly, she told the story of how she "could not make the curves because the wheel was too hard to move, the brakes were harder than heck, and I sent the kids flying forward trying to brake!" She giggled over this story, so hard she almost lost her breath.

Full of life she is. In 2014 Curry suffered a heart attack, leaving her cardiac capacity at only 15 percent. She is careful not to overdo things now, but cannot wait until spring to get outside and do yard work and window washing.

Her secret to life is: "I like life!" Her soul food is whipping cream, the real whipping cream, in a carton. She knows this is not good for her heart. On the days when she indulges, "I just add a little extra to my cholesterol medicine," she admits quietly and chuckles. She reassures that she has gotten approval from her doctor to do this first.

Curry has eight grandchildren. All her children live on the property with her, except for Marion, who lives in Portland. "Frankie is even here," she said pointing out her kitchen window.