Dr. L. Rodger Currie
WWII Marine Corps Aviator and Carnegie Hero
L. Rodger Currie, a Chelmsford, Mass. dentist and real estate developer who was one of the youngest Marine Corps dive bomber pilots in World War II, and who became one of the oldest recipients of the Carnegie Medal for Heroism after rescuing six people from a burning boat on Cape Cod 60 years later, died unexpectedly Wednesday at his home in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 88.
Currie served in Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 243, also known as the Flying Goldbricks. He flew 105 combat missions bombing and strafing Japanese Forces in the Solomon Islands, Bismark Archipelago, and the Philippine Islands. Currie was awarded 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism and extraordinary achievement as well as 13 Air Medals. The 19-year old’s exploits included a daring touch-and-go landing under fire on an enemy-occupied airfield to pick up a wingman who had been shot down.
Leo Rodger Currie was born on August 5, 1923, in Lowell, Mass., the fourth of six children of Mary Coyne Currie, a Lowell mill girl, and Patrick John Currie, a former ironworker from Motherwell, Scotland, who was the custodian of the school and orphanage of St. Margaret’s Parish in Lowell until his death in 1946.
After the war, Currie attended St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., and fell in love with Patricia O’Dea, daughter of Dan and Cate (Cooney) O'Dea of Lowell, Mass. They married in 1950, had seven children, and celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in June.
Dr. Currie graduated from the University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore in 1952. The following year he moved to Chelmsford, Mass., where he founded Chelmsford Dental Associates while also serving on the staffs of three hospitals in Lowell.
In 1957, he was named Man of the Year by the Lowell Junior Chamber of Commerce. That same year he purchased a summer home in Hyannis Port. In support of his friends and neighbors, Dr. Currie traveled as an advance man for the campaigns in West Virginia for John F. Kennedy in 1960, to Indiana for Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and to Iowa for Edward M. Kennedy in 1980.
An avid sailor and pilot, Dr. Currie was part of the crew on the 56-foot Yankee Girl, representing the United States in the 1971 Admiral’s Cup at the Isle of Wight in England. He enjoyed flying his vintage World War II PT-26 before donating it to the National Museum of the U.S Air Force.
A past president of the Lowell Dental Society, Dr. Currie was Chairman of the Ethics and Discipline Committee of the Massachusetts Dental Society for nine years. He was a member of the building committee of St. Mary Church in Chelmsford, a founding director of the first Bank and Trust of Chelmsford and one of the founders of the Chelmsford Roundtable.
Dr. Currie was a former member of the Hyannisport Club, the Hyannis Port Yacht Club and of the Hyannis Port Civic Association; a former member of the Algonquin Club in Boston, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Chelmsford; in Palm Beach, Fla., he was a member of The Beach Club, The Society of The Four Arts and Palm Beach Yacht Club.
A communicant of St. Mary Church in Chelmsford, St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis and St. Edward Church in Palm Beach. Dr. Currie is survived by his wife, Pat, and six children; Daniel Currie, Gail Dierdorff (Larry), Susan Toth (Michael), Patricia Loveday, Lisa Currie and L. Rodger Currie (Elaine) and former son in law, Capt. Charlie Loveday; 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren; his two sisters, Josephine Martin and Alice Caine, and sister in law, Mary Smith Currie. He is predeceased by brothers, Edward and Francis, and a sister, Mary Gill.
A Funeral Mass for Dr. Currie will be celebrated Wednesday morning, August 31st at ST. MARY CHURCH in CHELMSFORD at 11 A.M. His burial will take place at Pine Ridge Cemetery in Chelmsford where he will be laid to rest beside his son Chris who died in 1981. There will be no visiting hours. In lieu of flowers, donations in Dr. Currie’s memory may be made to The Town of Chelmsford Christopher Currie Scholarship Fund or St. Anselm College Christopher Currie Scholarship Fund. E-condolences at odonnellfuneralhome.com. Arrangements by the O’DONNELL FUNERAL HOME in LOWELL (978 or 866) 458-8768.
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