Barry Wayne Curless

Barry Wayne Curless was born on October 12, 1945, in San Diego, CA., at Balboa Naval Hospital to Robert Morris Curless and Virginia Clark Curless. Most of Barry’s life as a young person was spent in Wabash, IN. He lived at Josiah Whites Residential Care Center as his father was the superintendent for the children’s home for 31 years. It was a family tradition to work at White’s for 3 generations starting with his paternal grandparents. White’s, located 5 miles south of Wabash, is a wonderful place for children 12 years old through high school who are having difficulty with home life or trouble with the law. White’s is a Christian based center run by the Quaker church. There continues to be ample success stories of young people who have turned their lives around by the love of the staff and Jesus. At White’s, Barry spent summers mowing grass and working construction on White’s 800 acres of property. A notable summer job at IU was doing children’s programs while interning as a park ranger, as Smokey the Bear. Barry graduated from Wabash high school in 1963 and attended college. He graduated from IU in 1968 and received his Masters’ Degree from Ball State University. Not long afterwards, Barry got invited by Uncle Sam to a beautiful park-like setting in Vietnam. It was war time. For preparation, he completed 8 weeks of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood. While there he became a jump master. His next assignment was Officer’s Candidate school at Fort Benning, and he was accepted to helicopter pilot training until a heart condition was discovered and plans changed. Barry then went to basic infantry training at Fort Bragg before finally leaving for Vietnam. He served 9 months and 23 days In Vietnam where he was responsible for setting up communication from base camp to the outposts. Barry was a Vietnam veteran and proudly served the U.S. Army for 2 years, 8 months, and 4 days. Throughout Barry’s life, supporting White’s was always a priority. When back from Vietnam, he returned to work at White’s, but this time in counseling and recreation. Afterwards, professionally, he supervised heavy duty trucks for International Harvester, sold insurance for Farm Bureau, worked in advertising for the Wabash Plain Dealer, and finally joined the Yellow Pages at GTE & AT&T. He fell in love with Mary Lou and they married on December 19, 1976. They were married 46 years. In 1979, they welcomed Amanda Nicole to their family and in 1981 along came Matthew Wayne. Barry was an involved Dad and coached both kids in basketball for many years. Barry always made our children’s friend’s feel welcome and our home was always open. It was a home away from home, and the kids always loved his “beaver face” even back then! Barry flourished in the outdoors and with people. He loved fishing, golf, pickleball, tennis, Florida, and boating. He never met a stranger. He had a generous spirit, fun nature, hearty laugh, and absolute gusto for life. Barry had a strong faith and was a member of Cornerstone Lutheran Church for 31 years. He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in March of 2021, which was shocking because he was a non-smoker. Barry fought it bravely and with dignity. He felt completely blessed for his relationship with Christ, a wonderful life, his family, friends, neighbors, and pets. He was preceded in death by his two sisters Barbara Jean and Roberta Jo, mother Virginia Mae (Clark) Curless and Father Robert Morris Curless. He is survived by his wife Mary Lou (Jupin) Curless, daughter, Mandy, son, Matt, and grand-dog, Henry. He is survived by brothers Lew (Joy), Bruce (Kim), Craig (Jerri), sister Susan (Brent Dawes), and by his best, most faithful, four-legged friend, Teddy “Bear”. The Celebration of Life is scheduled on Friday, February 10th from 3 – 7pm. at Crown Hill Funeral Home, 700 West 38th Street, Indianapolis IN 46208. A funeral service will occur Saturday, February 11th at 1:30pm. Both services will be held at Crown Hill Funeral Home. In leu of flowers, donations can be made to Josiah White’s (Children’s home): 5233 South 50 East, Wabash, IN. 46992, (210)-563-1158, https://josiahwhites.org or mailed to the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center for Lung Cancer at PO Box 7072, Indianapolis, IN 46207 – Please make memorial gifts payable to IU Lung Cancer Research and indicate “in memory of Barry W. Curless” on your gift. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.crownhill.org for the Curless family.