NOPD, community say farewell to Sgt. Major Curry
Friends and family said farewell this weekend to a Sixth-District officer who served all 63 years of his career with that division.
Sgt. Major Manuel Curry passed away last week at the age of 84, after serving more than six decades in a city he loved. Officials say he was likely the longest-serving active-duty law enforcement officer in the nation.
“A true statesman lies before us today, right there,” said NOPD Maj. Robert Bardy, who spoke during Curry’s funeral mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.
NOPD Chief Warren Riley said that Curry wasn’t just a “figurehead.”
“Up until his passing, he was still very, very active. Very alert,” Riley said. “He still drove a police car, he still went to scenes.”
Before joining the NOPD in 1946, Curry served his country in WWII, and saved countless lives as a medic during the D-Day invasion of the beaches of Normandy.
During Hurricane Katrina, the then 80-year-old Curry stayed at his post at the Sixth District.
The NOPD will be naming the Sixth District station in Curry’s honor.
Sgt. Major Curry was the only person in the history of the NOPD to have that rank, which was specially created for him. The department says it will now retire that rank in his honor.
Jay Vise, www.WWL.com
http://www.wwl.com/NOPD—community-says-farewell-to-Sgt—Major-Curry/4595641
2 years ago