Curphy, Mary E. 1948-2004

CURPHY, BUTLER AHRENS, MORRISON, GOSSELINK, BARTON, FRITZ

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 3/3/2012 at 10:00:05

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register; Oct. 18, 2004

MARY E. CURPHY

Mary E. Curphy, 55, of Grinnell died Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004, at her home.

A funeral service was held Monday, Oct. 18, at Trinity Lutheran Church, rural Malcom, with the Rev. Herb Knudten, pastor of the church, officiating. Organist was Teresa Ziegenmeyer and vocalist was Mary Whitehead. Burial was in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery Memorials may be made to the church.

She was born Dec. 9, 1948, in Grinnell to Stanley and Ruby Butler Ahrens and was raised on the family farm near Grinnell. She was a 1967 graduate of Grinnell-Newburg High School and attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. She worked for a Grinnell legal firm and later operated a secretarial service in Des Moines. She also worked in the marketing department at the former Stadiums Unlimited in Grinnell.

She was married on May 24, 1986, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Rick Curphy. They resided in Denver, Colo., and Phoenix, Ariz., before moving in September, 1990, to Grinnell where she was a member of the staff at First Realty and later owned and operated Iowa Realty.

She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and sang in its choir. She was a past president of the Grinnell-Newburg school board, past president of the Poweshiek County Board of Realtors, and a member of the Iowa Republican Women's group. She also was a foster mother for over 20 children and served as a coach with the Odyssey of the Mind program.

She is survived by her husband Rick Curphy of Grinnell; three sons, Joel Morrison of Brooklyn, N.Y., Joseph Clayton Curphy of Gilman and Walter Chad Curphy of Kansas City, Mo.; three daughters, Kari Gosselink of Grinnell, Angelia Barton of Cedar Rapids and Melilnda Diane Curphy of Kansas City; seven grandchildren; two brothers, Paul Ahrens and Don Ahrens, both of Grinnell and one sister, Norma Fritz,of Carlyle, Ill. She was preceded in death by her parents and one brother Raymond Ahrens.