Kenneth G. Curl

Kenneth G. Curl was born on December 17, 1943, and grew up in Artesia, California. I’ve never been to Artesia, but I bet it is a nice place. When he was 15, his family moved to Marion, OH for his father’s job at GTE. After graduating from high school, Ken soon joined the Army and served from 1961 to 1964, spending much of his time in Germany. One month after getting out of the service, Ken met the love of his life, Marjorie Chambers, at the Isaly Ice Cream Shop in Marion. After only 4 months of courtship, he and Marjorie got married. They went on to have three daughters, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Like his father, Ken spent the majority of his occupational career at GTE, working in Marion, Wilmington, Circleville, and Bellevue, before finally settling back in Marion, where he lived the last 44 years of his life. Although he worked long hours and was a much respected and admired employee at GTE, it is the opinion of his family that he found his true calling as a grandfather (and, later, as a great-grandfather), a job he not only enjoyed immensely, but a job at which he was simply great. Ken was always available to provide a helping hand to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whether it was picking someone up from somewhere, buying someone something they needed, making his beloved sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast (or dinner!), playing board or card games with his grandchildren, or simply lending an ear when someone needed to talk. Family was everything to Ken, and it showed through every single day of his life. If there was a Hall of Fame for grandparents, Ken would be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Ken entered into the next phase of his spiritual life on September 23, 2022, to be with his lovely wife of 52 years, Marjorie, his parents, Glenn and Frances, his youngest daughter Becky, and many other family and friends. I’ve never been to Heaven, but I bet it’s a really nice place. Ken is survived by two daughters, Debbie Curl-Nagy (Mark Nagy) and Anne (Mike) Lucas, two sisters, Judy Rawlins (Tom Lusch) and Terry (Chuck) Klaiber, seven grandchildren, Kylene (Kim) Curl, Alyssa (Mark) Lambert, Christen Nagy, Ashley Lucas (Mike Buchanan), Chelsea Nagy, Melanie Casto, and Matt Lucas, and six great-grandchildren, Nathan Lambert, Logan Lambert, Fahlynn Buchanan, Elaina De La Paz, Koltan Lambert, and Ryder Buchanan. Visitation for Ken Curl will be at the Dayspring Wesleyan Church on Tuesday, September 27, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Funeral services will be held at the Dayspring Wesleyan Church on Wednesday, September 28, beginning at 10:00 am. The family asks that memorial contributions be made in Ken's honor to the Dayspring Wesleyan Kids programs in Marion, OH (https://www.dayspringwesleyan.org/dayspring-kids/) and/or to the American Heart Association (https://www.heart.org).

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