James Alfred Currie, 72

James Alfred Currie of Libby, Mont., a longtime resident of southeastern Pennsylvania, passed away in Coeur d'Alene, ID on January 28, 2014.

Jim was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on January 8, 1942, to James C. and Claire (Dressler) Currie. He spent a few of his young childhood years in Florida, got started as a caddy, and along the way supposedly became a yo-yo champion. He attended Bonner High School while living in the attic of the family home in Havertown, Pa. with his parents and two younger sisters. While hospitalized for lung surgery at the age of 19, he had a nurse who later became his mother-in-law. Jim was introduced to Patricia Ann Knock at Drexel Swim Club, and they married on November 23, 1963.

Jim went on to study engineering at Villanova University, and completed his studies earning a PhD in Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering at Northwestern University in Illinois. He then became a professor at Villanova. He and Pat built and settled into their country home in Phoenixville, Pa., where they raised three feisty red-headed girls and last, but not least, their one boy. They boasted that they had the best sledding hill around. The Currie family was raised on Charlestown Playskool and Camp, Baker Park, and the Phoenixville YMCA, with Pat and Jim driving all over for sports, swimming, choir, and Scouts.

Cathy went off to the University of Delaware and summers at the beach, then out west to Coeur d'Alene where she started her own physical therapy practice specializing in manual therapy. Karen went to Temple University in Philadelphia, and has moved around the country with a successful career in banking. Jim recently traveled to California for Christmas despite starting his sixth year of kidney dialysis, and was able to spend a month seeing Karen's new home, Alcatraz, and Yosemite. Amy studied Physical Therapy at the University of Scranton in Northeast Pennsylvania, and also headed west to Libby, Mont., where Jim and Pat eventually moved to be near four of their six grandchildren. Mike studied Engineering at Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., and lived several years in Boston, Mass., before moving across the world to Singapore where he and his family have lived for three years.

Jim loved to fly planes, nearly finishing his pilot's license while on sabbatical working at John Deere, then settled for radio controlled ones at the flying field in Libby. He loved boats, which got the family stranded and towed many times on Chesapeake Bay, loved fishing, never made it hunting, collected stamps, sold his wares at the Thursday Farmer's Market the past four years, and fulfilled his dream of owning a Corvette, although he was so thrifty he rarely drove it. He joined the family on our reunions the last several years which the kids each took turns planning. They were trying to convince him he should host one at Disney some day.

Jim, aka Uncle Jimmy or MacGyver as he was affectionately called, was preceded in death by his parents and his wife of nearly 42 years. He is survived by his children and grandchildren: Cathy Gephart (Dale) of Coeur d'Alene, and daughters Avery and Zoe; Karen Currie of Santa Rosa, Calif.; Amy Hughes (Robert) of Libby, Mont., daughter Mallory and son Robert, Jr.; Mike Currie (Aiyana), daughter Anika, and son Maxwell; sisters: Rita Feola (Tony) of Dresher, Pa., and Eileen Stokley (Steve) of Lawrenceville, N.J.; three nephews, two nieces, and their families; and faithful friend, Tony Lumberto of Connecticut.