Delbert Vernon Curley

CURLEY, ROBERTSON, EBLE, HUGGINS, BATTERHAM, TALBOT, MOONEY, RITCHIE, MATTIE

Posted By: Ruth Maring- Volunteer (email)
Date: 12/19/2006 at 15:34:06

The Clinton Herald
Published: December 19, 2006 02:52 pm

Delbert Vernon Curley

Lifetime Thomson/Fulton community leader and founder of Agri-King, Inc., Delbert Vernon Curley, died Sunday, December 17, in Phoenix, Arizona, following a three-year battle with cancer. He was 86. A native of Thomson, Mr. Curley resided in Fulton until his retirement in 1985 and, until recent years, spent summers in Fulton and winters in his Ahwatukee home, Phoenix.

Public visitation will be from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Thursday, December 21, 2006 at the Fulton Presbyterian Church, 311 N. 9th Street, Fulton, IL. The Fulton Chapel - Bosma-Renkes Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Private family funeral services will be held Friday, December 22, 2006 at the Thomson United Methodist Church, Thomson, IL with the Revs. Paul Judd, Marlin Ebersole, Chambersburg, PA, and George DeLong, Lititz, PA, officiating. DeLong and Ebersole are longtime employees of Agri-King with Ebersole retiring to devote more time to his church. Interment, also private, will follow at Lower York Cemetery. Pallbearers will be grandchildren and honorary pallbearers are Agri-King’s Board of Directors, Terry Callahan, Michael Hanrahan, Dr. Gbenga Ayangbile, Lila Ritchie, Eric Schwarz and Clark Curley.

A public Celebration of Life Memorial service and reception will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday, December 22, 2006 at Buck’s Barn, 5020 IL Route 84, Thomson, IL which is located on the site of his family farm. Music by daughter Nanette Talbot (recorded), grandson Sean Talbot, daughter Sharon Batterham and grandson Derek Batterham with Charlotte Atherton, organist.

Memorials to Thomson Youth Center, 803 Fiet Avenue, Thomson, IL 61285.

Mr. Curley was born January 15, 1920, in Thomson, the son of Bonnie (Robertson) and Lynn V. Curley. He was a 1936 graduate of York Community High School, Thomson, and attended the University of Illinois. In 1941, he married Agnes Eble of Clinton. After her death in 1945, he married Marian Huggins on July 26, 1946 in Davenport, IA.

Mr. Curley farmed until 1961 and due to a ruptured vertebrae was forced to retire. He then was employed by Walnut Grove and Columbian feed companies until he founded Agri-King in 1968. Since its inception in his Fulton garage, its primary focus is livestock nutrition and research. Today, Agri-King is an employee-owned international company employing about 250. Mr. Curley remained active in the company serving as Chairman of the Board Emeritus and was a member of the Board of Directors.

A community leader, philanthropist and sports enthusiast, Mr. Curley was a member of the Thomson United Methodist Church, past member of the Fulton Chamber of Commerce and was inducted into the Sandburr Classic Hall of Fame and the Shoot the Bull Sports Hall of Fame, both of Thomson.

In 1976, Mr. Curley and his three sisters developed Buck’s Barn, LynnWood Estates and Lynks on their family farm, the former 240-acre site of Curley’s Melon Farm, Thomson. The complex was sold in 1984.

An avid golfer, he was a charter member of the Fulton Country Club and active in its establishment. A lifetime member of LynnWood Lynks, he recently retired from active membership in the Ahwatukee Country Club, Phoenix.

Survivors include his wife Marian; two sons, Clark (Ann) Curley, Fulton, Robert (Ann) Curley, Thomson; two daughters, Sharon Batterham, Las Vegas, NV, and Nanette (Frank) Talbot, Fulton; nine grandchildren, David (Christa) Curley, Sean Talbot, Fulton, Danielle Curley, Thomson, Brian Curley, Chicago, Dru Curley, Wausaw, WI, Dane Curley, Portage, WI, Adelle Curley (Travis) Crotteau, Cloquet, MN, Chad (Jill) Batterham, Mapleton, IL, and Derek (Diane) Batterham, Tucson; eight great-grandchildren; three sisters, Edna (David) Mooney and Lila Ritchie, Phoenix, and Leona (Vernon) Mattie, Thomson.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, parents and an infant sister.

Delbert Vernon Curley

Thomson, Illinois

January 15, 1920 - December 17, 2006