George Venable Curchin, Tinton Falls, died July 8, 2024, after a short illness, just a week before his 97th birthday. George was born July 15, 1927, to Anna (Venable) and George Washington Curchin of Fair Haven.
George graduated from Rumson-Fair Haven in 1945, though he proudly says he never attended the graduation because he left to join the military. Following a short stint in the U.S. Navy, George attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1950. George was a lifelong proud alum. He wore a sweater with a huge maroon “P” emblazoned on the front until it disintegrated, Penn neckties, Penn polo shirts and Penn button-downs. He drank from Penn coffee mugs, used Penn key chains, and bet his grandchildren (from rival schools) on Penn football games. He served for several years as his class reunion gift chair.
George married Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Montgomery – whom he met at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair – in 1951. Together they raised four children in Little Silver while building his CPA firm in Monmouth County. George built the business from a firm of one employee in shared office space in Long Branch to the large prestigious Red Bank firm known today as the Curchin Group. Along the way, George served as vice president, president and past president of the New Jersey State Society of CPAs. He also served on the boards of many charitable county organizations. One of his longest and favorite tenures was with the Boy Scouts. George was an Eagle Scout and a Scoutmaster for years. Some of his best stories are about epic Boy Scout camping trips with his son John in the pouring rain.
George’s interests and hobbies were varied. He loved listening to Yankees games and operas. He played poker with friends, kickball with his own and neighborhood kids, and ping pong with anyone. He read books about Horatio Hornblower and his hero, Winston Churchill. He collected Currier and Ives prints and old wooden sap buckets. He said he liked to “work on cars,” which meant washing and waxing his vintage ’59 Mercedes 190 SL. He was admittedly never handy. He was proud of being one of the first professional offices with a computer – it took up an entire room – but the last to own a color TV. George enjoyed a good chess game and always brought his board with him to annual family reunions. He loved Fig Newtons with condensed milk, the red clam chowder, and a good rib eye steak. He played the piano badly, was pretty good on the ukulele and was always an enthusiastic audience. He was a devout Episcopalian and served many years on the Vestry at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Little Silver.
George lost his beloved wife Betty in 1984 and he remarried Peggy Johnson. They retired to Alstead, New Hampshire, where they lived in a 1700s farmhouse for many years; activities and hobbies there included stacking wood and driving garbage to the dump!
George was a man of civility and good manners. At 96 he still opened doors for “the ladies” and never got on the elevator first.
George is survived by a large, loving and grateful family, Barbara (Brad) Hall, Nancy (Charlie) Hales, John Curchin, Lynn Geltzeiler, eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Visitation was held June 15 at Thompson Memorial Home in Red Bank. Funeral services were July 16 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Little Silver.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Little Silver or St. John’s Episcopal Church in Walpole, New Hampshire.
The article originally appeared in the July 25 – 31, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
