Sheriff's mom wraps up EMT career

Carol Curry vividly remembers one of the first calls she got as a charter member of the Lakeside Quick Response Unit 30 years ago.

In the days before Flathead County residents could call 911, Curry personally took the call from a friend who said a man “full of blood” had knocked on the door for help.

Under heavy fog that day, a boat had taken off from the public dock in Lakeside. The driver of the boat, thinking he was heading at full speed into the lake, slammed into the shore instead.

There were no fatalities, but that kind of emergency situation would set the stage for Curry’s involvement over the next three decades. She knows well the adrenaline rush that comes with each call.

“The minute the radio goes off, my mouth goes dry,” she said. “I always had mints with me because of that.”

Curry, 75, was honored at the Lakeside QRU’s winter banquet for her 30 years of service and was made an honorary life member. When her EMT certification expired the end of March, she didn’t renew it. She will continue on as treasurer of the organization, but won’t be a responder.

“It was an honor and privilege to be on the QRU,” she said.

Curry also has the distinction of being the mother of another well-known public servant: Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry.

And while she understands the inherent risks that come with being in law enforcement, she admits she still worries about her 52-year-old son.

“A mother always worries,” she said.

Not too long ago she took a look at the number of windows in the sheriff’s personal office and asked her son if he was wearing a bullet-proof vest.

She laughed as she shared his exasperated response: “Oh, for God’s sake, mother...”

As the sheriff sees it, his mother probably worries more about himflying aircraft than she does about any danger that accompanies his job.

“My mom’s a great lady,” he said. “She’s been very dedicated to the community of Lakeside for so many years. I was lucky to have her guidance growing up.”

CURRY, A NATIVE of Hamilton, was a stay-at-home mother to her two boys, Chuck and Scott. The family moved to Lakeside in 1967 when her husband Charles, who died nine years ago, was employed with the U.S. Department of Defense and worked at the radar base in Lakeside.

She doesn’t remember any early inklings that Chuck would head into a career in law enforcement, though he did follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Flathead County Sheriff’s Posse at age 18. He started working for the Sheriff’s Office at 20.

Curry said the sheriff was quite interested in medical work from early on, which explains his long affiliation with the ALERT air-ambulance program, where he was the chief flight paramedic for several years after leaving the Sheriff’s Office in 2005. He began his service with ALERT in 1984.

Curry was surprised when her son announced his bid for sheriff.

“I asked him if he was out of his mind,” she said with a smile. “Everyone was after him to run. Of course I’m very proud of him.”

Curry said she had a much stronger indication about her other son’s career path. Scott is an accomplished mining engineer who has traveled the world. He spent the past two years working at a gold mine in Kyrgyzstan and worked for many years in Africa and Chile.

“My father was a prospector as a hobby,” she said, remembering how taken Scott was with rocks. “I used to have rocks all over the house that he’d collected.”

By the time her boys were grown, there was interest in Lakeside in starting a quick response unit. Bigfork had just established its QRU and Lakeside followed suit. Curry was one of the Lakeside group’s charter members.

Responders were first trained in first aid, then as first responders. Curry eventually earned her EMT certification. She’s proud of the Lakeside QRU, which now has one paramedic and two more in training.

Curry said she likely will celebrate Mother’s Day by going out to eat with her family.

“The best present is to have all the family together,” she said. “I always tell them, ‘Don’t buy me stuff.’ At my age I’m getting rid of stuff.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.