Kenneth E. Curran
June 26, 1912 — March 12, 2003
Kenneth E. Curran
Kenneth E. Curran
LITTLETON Kenneth E. Curran, 90, prominent public works contractor and conservative activist died On March 12, 2003 at Littleton Regional hospital after a period of declining health. He was a major employer in Littleton for 40 years and participated in the construction of the Moore Power Station in the early 1950s. His advocacy of the construction of a causeway, rather than a bridge, on I-93 at Moore Reservoir in 1984 saved more than $12 million in construction costs.
Kenneth Elwin Curran was born on June 26, 1912 in Littleton, the first of two sons born to Mitchell John and Gertrude Mabel (Baker) Curran. He attended Littleton public schools. As a teenager, he was employed as a chauffeur for hotel magnate Frank Abbott. He graduated from Littleton High School in 1931 and entered Northeastern Universitys Cooperative Work Plan.
His college work assignments included working for B. Perini & Sons (now Perini Corp., Framingham, Mass.), V. & M. Construction Company (which at that time was building Littleton's U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Building) and the New Hampshire Highway Department. Kenneth participated in the preliminary survey for the proposed aerial tramway to the summit of Cannon Mountain. He was an avid outdoorsman. In August 1933 he set a record for a 38-mile hike across the Franconia Range and Presidential Range from the Flume in Franconia Notch to the Ravine House in Randolph in 23 hours and 35 minutes. He frequented the summit of Mount Washington as a Volunteer Observer.
He graduated from college in 1937, with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and went to work in that field, first for Simpson Brothers Co. (Boston, Mass.), then John Iafolla
Construction Company (Dedham Mass.), and Arborio Roads Corporation (Hartford, Conn.) on road and bridge construction. From 1938-40, he was self-employed as a general contractor. His first public works job was the Saranac footbridge in Littleton. He also built the Bethlehem Municipal Swimming Pool, the Moose River bridge on Route 16 in Gorham, Frank D. Mullin's store on Main St. in Littleton and other structures which are still in service more than 60 years later.
In 1940 he obtained a temporary civil service appointment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a civil engineer and inspector on military airport construction. In 1941, he took a position as the pavement and public works field engineer for the Portland Cement Association.
During World War II, Curran engaged in defense-related work with David Nassif Co., serving as a project superintendent in the construction of several military airfields. In early 1943, he was sent to Canada as construction superintendent fort 63 miles of the Alaskan Highway in the Yukon Territory.
In 1944, he formed the Northern Mining Company to mine muscovite mica, a strategic material, from mines in Orange N.H. The mica was trucked to Berlin N.H. where 80 women trimmed it.
In 1946 , he formed Kenneth E. Curran, Inc. which began as a sawmill, a pair of horses, a logging camp and a stumpage contract with the Connecticut River Power Company. He employed 30 men in the logging operation and eight in the sawmill. By 1950, the corporation owned thirteen transit mixers and was engaged in construction contracting. Kenneth E. Curran, Inc built schools, homes, ski lifts, bridges, as well as commercial and factory buildings in New Hampshire and Vermont. The companys biggest jobs were as a subcontractor on the Samuel E. Moore Power Station in Littleton during the early 1950s and on portions of Interstate I-93 through Franconia, Sugar Hill,
Bethlehem and Littleton in the late 1950s. He also was a subcontractor on the Wilder Dam in Vermont. By 1961 the company had diversified into trucking, rigging, bulk hauling, sewer construction, production of crushed gravel, production of aggregates and had grossed $6 million. He was a founding member of the Associated General Contractors of New Hampshire.
Seeing opportunities in constructing bridges for the interstate highways, Curran formed a corporation with Quentin N. "Red" Lavoie, a bridge expert who resided in Littleton. Curran-Lavoie, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and built hundreds of bridges, including the Amoskeag Bridge in Manchester, the major interchange in Plymouth at I-93 and NH 25, and the curved bridges in Barnet Vermont on I-91. Curran-Lavoie, Inc. built the $2 million Berlin N.H. potable water treatment plant and re-built the Nansen Ski Jump in Berlin.
In 1962, he formed R.W. Rich, Inc. with Rodney Rich, a Littleton mason. Within two years, R.W. Rich, Inc. was earning annual gross revenues in excess of $300,000.
In 1964, with Clarence E. Gordon, he formed Crushing, Inc., that specialized in the production of crushed gravel, crushed rock, bituminous and Portland cement concrete aggregates and transit-mixed concrete. This company supplied material for highway construction.
With Gerard E. Cossette he formed Curran Cossette Construction Corporation in 1967. That firm constructed nine schools in New Hampshire and Maine. It also completes five major sewer construction projects in southern New Hampshire.
Kenneth E. Curran, Inc. built the St. Johnsbury factory for EHV Industries, Inc., in 1970. He was EHV's corporate treasurer and a director of the company until its affiliation with H. Weidmann, Ltd.
Currans interest in conservative politics became more pronounced in the 1970s. He had been elected to the Board of Selectmen Littleton in March 1962 and served a three-year term. In 1972, he was elected to the NH House and served a term as a staunch supporter of Governor Meldrim Thomson. Curran successfully sponsored legislation to strengthen right-to-know laws and an administrative procedures act that reformed the rule-making process for state agencies.
During this period he became involved in a contract dispute with the Town of Littleton and the State of N.H. over a sewerage system construction project in Littleton. The dispute arose when federal rules changed after Curran had begun construction. Several lawsuits resulted, with the last one settled in 1984. The episode reinforced Currans distrust of the state bureaucracy, and he moved his corporation to Texas, where he resided for a time and engaged in health facility construction projects.
With his business affairs winding down in the mid-1980s, he returned to Littleton and became a gadfly on the state and local level. He wrote frequent letters to newspapers criticizing public spending. His watchdog activities resulted in several lawsuits against the town and numerous confrontations with local officials.
His political involvement extended to South Africa where, in 1986, he traveled to meet with Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, the Chief Minister of KwaZulu and tribal leader of seven million Zulus.
He is memorialized with his friend, George McAvoy for his effort to substitute a causeway for a bridge on I-93 at Moore Reservoir. He began this effort in 1972 and enlisted McAvoy in the 1980s. In 2002, the State of New Hampshire designated it the Curran/McAvoy Causeway'.
Kenneth E. Curran was predeceased by his brother, Robert. He leaves his wife, Iona (Choquette) West to whom he was wed on June 15, 1951, a step-daughter, Dale
Youngstrom and her husband, Larry of West Hartford, Ct; a stepson, Dana West and his wife Gay of El Cajon, CA, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services were private, with a public memorial service to be held at a yet-to-be designated date in June.
The family requests no flowers and that gifts in Kenneths memory be made to Hospice of the Littleton Area 600 St. Johnsbury Road, Littleton, NH 03561 in care of Martha Hill.
Arrangements and care have been entrusted to the Pillsbury Funeral Homes and Cremation Service. To view an online memorial, send a message of condolence, or for more information, visit www.pillsburyfh.com
LITTLETON Kenneth E. Curran, 90, prominent public works contractor and conservative activist died On March 12, 2003 at Littleton Regional hospital after a period of declining health. He was a major employer in Littleton for 40 years and participated in the construction of the Moore Power Station in the early 1950s. His advocacy of the construction of a causeway, rather than a bridge, on I-93 at Moore Reservoir in 1984 saved more than $12 million in construction costs.
Kenneth Elwin Curran was born on June 26, 1912 in Littleton, the first of two sons born to Mitchell John and Gertrude Mabel (Baker) Curran. He attended Littleton public schools. As a teenager, he was employed as a chauffeur for hotel magnate Frank Abbott. He graduated from Littleton High School in 1931 and entered Northeastern Universitys Cooperative Work Plan.
His college work assignments included working for B. Perini & Sons (now Perini Corp., Framingham, Mass.), V. & M. Construction Company (which at that time was building Littleton's U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Building) and the New Hampshire Highway Department. Kenneth participated in the preliminary survey for the proposed aerial tramway to the summit of Cannon Mountain. He was an avid outdoorsman. In August 1933 he set a record for a 38-mile hike across the Franconia Range and Presidential Range from the Flume in Franconia Notch to the Ravine House in Randolph in 23 hours and 35 minutes. He frequented the summit of Mount Washington as a Volunteer Observer.
He graduated from college in 1937, with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and went to work in that field, first for Simpson Brothers Co. (Boston, Mass.), then John Iafolla
Construction Company (Dedham Mass.), and Arborio Roads Corporation (Hartford, Conn.) on road and bridge construction. From 1938-40, he was self-employed as a general contractor. His first public works job was the Saranac footbridge in Littleton. He also built the Bethlehem Municipal Swimming Pool, the Moose River bridge on Route 16 in Gorham, Frank D. Mullin's store on Main St. in Littleton and other structures which are still in service more than 60 years later.
In 1940 he obtained a temporary civil service appointment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a civil engineer and inspector on military airport construction. In 1941, he took a position as the pavement and public works field engineer for the Portland Cement Association.
During World War II, Curran engaged in defense-related work with David Nassif Co., serving as a project superintendent in the construction of several military airfields. In early 1943, he was sent to Canada as construction superintendent fort 63 miles of the Alaskan Highway in the Yukon Territory.
In 1944, he formed the Northern Mining Company to mine muscovite mica, a strategic material, from mines in Orange N.H. The mica was trucked to Berlin N.H. where 80 women trimmed it.
In 1946 , he formed Kenneth E. Curran, Inc. which began as a sawmill, a pair of horses, a logging camp and a stumpage contract with the Connecticut River Power Company. He employed 30 men in the logging operation and eight in the sawmill. By 1950, the corporation owned thirteen transit mixers and was engaged in construction contracting. Kenneth E. Curran, Inc built schools, homes, ski lifts, bridges, as well as commercial and factory buildings in New Hampshire and Vermont. The companys biggest jobs were as a subcontractor on the Samuel E. Moore Power Station in Littleton during the early 1950s and on portions of Interstate I-93 through Franconia, Sugar Hill,
Bethlehem and Littleton in the late 1950s. He also was a subcontractor on the Wilder Dam in Vermont. By 1961 the company had diversified into trucking, rigging, bulk hauling, sewer construction, production of crushed gravel, production of aggregates and had grossed $6 million. He was a founding member of the Associated General Contractors of New Hampshire.
Seeing opportunities in constructing bridges for the interstate highways, Curran formed a corporation with Quentin N. "Red" Lavoie, a bridge expert who resided in Littleton. Curran-Lavoie, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and built hundreds of bridges, including the Amoskeag Bridge in Manchester, the major interchange in Plymouth at I-93 and NH 25, and the curved bridges in Barnet Vermont on I-91. Curran-Lavoie, Inc. built the $2 million Berlin N.H. potable water treatment plant and re-built the Nansen Ski Jump in Berlin.
In 1962, he formed R.W. Rich, Inc. with Rodney Rich, a Littleton mason. Within two years, R.W. Rich, Inc. was earning annual gross revenues in excess of $300,000.
In 1964, with Clarence E. Gordon, he formed Crushing, Inc., that specialized in the production of crushed gravel, crushed rock, bituminous and Portland cement concrete aggregates and transit-mixed concrete. This company supplied material for highway construction.
With Gerard E. Cossette he formed Curran Cossette Construction Corporation in 1967. That firm constructed nine schools in New Hampshire and Maine. It also completes five major sewer construction projects in southern New Hampshire.
Kenneth E. Curran, Inc. built the St. Johnsbury factory for EHV Industries, Inc., in 1970. He was EHV's corporate treasurer and a director of the company until its affiliation with H. Weidmann, Ltd.
Currans interest in conservative politics became more pronounced in the 1970s. He had been elected to the Board of Selectmen Littleton in March 1962 and served a three-year term. In 1972, he was elected to the NH House and served a term as a staunch supporter of Governor Meldrim Thomson. Curran successfully sponsored legislation to strengthen right-to-know laws and an administrative procedures act that reformed the rule-making process for state agencies.
During this period he became involved in a contract dispute with the Town of Littleton and the State of N.H. over a sewerage system construction project in Littleton. The dispute arose when federal rules changed after Curran had begun construction. Several lawsuits resulted, with the last one settled in 1984. The episode reinforced Currans distrust of the state bureaucracy, and he moved his corporation to Texas, where he resided for a time and engaged in health facility construction projects.
With his business affairs winding down in the mid-1980s, he returned to Littleton and became a gadfly on the state and local level. He wrote frequent letters to newspapers criticizing public spending. His watchdog activities resulted in several lawsuits against the town and numerous confrontations with local officials.
His political involvement extended to South Africa where, in 1986, he traveled to meet with Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, the Chief Minister of KwaZulu and tribal leader of seven million Zulus.
He is memorialized with his friend, George McAvoy for his effort to substitute a causeway for a bridge on I-93 at Moore Reservoir. He began this effort in 1972 and enlisted McAvoy in the 1980s. In 2002, the State of New Hampshire designated it the Curran/McAvoy Causeway'.
Kenneth E. Curran was predeceased by his brother, Robert. He leaves his wife, Iona (Choquette) West to whom he was wed on June 15, 1951, a step-daughter, Dale
Youngstrom and her husband, Larry of West Hartford, Ct; a stepson, Dana West and his wife Gay of El Cajon, CA, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services were private, with a public memorial service to be held at a yet-to-be designated date in June.
The family requests no flowers and that gifts in Kenneths memory be made to Hospice of the Littleton Area 600 St. Johnsbury Road, Littleton, NH 03561 in care of Martha Hill.
Arrangements and care have been entrusted to the Pillsbury Funeral Homes and Cremation Service. To view an online memorial, send a message of condolence, or for more information, visit www.pillsburyfh.com
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Kenneth E. Curran, please visit our flower store.
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