Patricia O'Dea Currie
dies in Palm Beach at 93
Patricia O’Dea Currie, beloved and devoted wife, cherished and caring mother, dear and unwavering friend, passed away peacefully of natural causes at 2:22 am, Sunday, May 3rd, 2020, at her residence in Palm Beach, FL. She was a former resident of Chelmsford and Hyannis Port, MA.
Patricia was lucky from the start. Born on Sept. 13, 1926 in Lowell, MA to Daniel D. O'Dea, a Lowell automobile dealer, and Catherine (Cooney) O'Dea, she was the first of four girls raised in a home filled with music, song and dance, animals, and politics. The 5’11” beauty, called “Long Boat” by her father, would become an astute sportswoman, adventurer, car aficionado, card player, chocolate connoisseur, and loyal NASCAR, New England Patriots, Boston Bruins, and Red Sox fan. Elliot’s Hot Dogs and Mrs. Nelson’s Candy House have lost a loyal customer.
Patricia was a graduate of the Rogers Hall School in Lowell and an alumna of Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY. During the summer after her freshman year in college, Patricia had a horseback riding accident. While recuperating in a full body cast, she met the love of her life, Rodger Currie. After Rodger returned from serving as a U.S. Marine dive bomber pilot in WWII, he asked the elegant “Pat” if he could accompany her to one of her afternoon Boston Braves games. She was a good judge of character. When, after a mere seven dates, Rodger asked for her hand in marriage, her mother flatly responded: “Why, you hardly know him!” But she knew. She could always pick a winner, whether in a husband, horse racing, baseball team, or friends.
Married sixty-one years, Pat and Rodg raised seven children. Pat was an active PTA member and Cub Scout Den mother. She navigated the children through America’s turbulent 60s and 70s, focusing them on piano lessons, tennis, swimming, and sailing, and endured many an interminable ice hockey season during unforgiving Massachusetts winters (while keeping them all fed). They invited the kids to tag along to sailing races, Bruins games, the Super Bowl, and offshore cruising.
Pat’s exposure to politics began at a young age through her father, an elected Massachusetts delegate to the Democratic National Conventions. Deep friendships that lasted a lifetime grew as local politics became national, and she was a first-hand witness to history, even filming JFK’s 1960 election morning on his Hyannis Port lawn, which she later donated to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Patricia played the piano beautifully, by ear, and could whistle the soundtrack to many a show tune or movie. She was an avid reader, dedicated cinephile, and natural detective, all of which fatefully came together while at a boxing match when she correctly identified one of the FBI's "Most Wanted" fugitives seated in the front row.
Known as their “Nana,” Pat greatly enjoyed her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She took their care seriously, but never took herself too seriously. She counseled, “Whatever you do, do it well. Be humble. And avoid drama in your life.”
Always one for a good ending, Patricia’s lifelong lucky streak continued in her daughters’ care at home when she received last rites virtually from Father Luca Pedroli in Rome, Italy.
God gave her to us for 93 wonderful years.
Patricia was an honoree of "Cercle Fleur-de-lis" Alumnae Council of her alma mater, Marymount College, and a U.S. representative of Ireland’s Dysert O’Dea Clan Association. In Palm Beach, she was a member of The Society of The Four Arts, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, the St. Edward Guild, The Palm Beach Yacht Club and former member of The Beach Club. She was a longtime member of The Hyannisport Club, The Hyannis Port Yacht Club, The Hyannis Port Civic Association, and West Beach Club. She was a communicant of St. Mary’s Church in Chelmsford, St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, and St. Edward Church in Palm Beach.
Patricia is survived by six children: Daniel O'Dea Currie of Boston, MA, Gail Currie Dierdorff (Larry) of Redlands, CA, Susan Currie Toth of Carlisle, MA, Patricia Currie Loveday of Norwich, CT, Lisa Currie of Palm Beach, FL, and Rodger Currie (Nickie) of Washington, DC; fourteen grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She was particularly close to Kathleen McCartin Evans (Bill), Michael McCartin (Nancy), Bobby Sayers, and Tyrone Sayers (Mark) as well as her lifelong “sisters and brother” Mary Jo Clasby, Ann Gargan King, and Joseph F. Gargan (deceased). Mrs. Currie is predeceased by her husband, Dr. L. Rodger Currie and their beloved son, Christopher; her three cherished O’Dea sisters: Mary Joy McCartin (Larry) of Lowell, Gail Sayers of Chelmsford, and Donna Connell (Jack) of Westford, MA; and, her sons-in-law Michael C. Toth of Carlisle and Charles J. Loveday of Hyannis, MA.
Mrs. Currie will be laid to rest at Pine Ridge Cemetery in Chelmsford beside her husband and son. A memorial mass will be held at a future date. E-condolences at www.odonnellfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to The Town of Chelmsford Christopher Currie Scholarship Fund at Chelmsford High School or the Christopher Currie Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund at St. Anselm College. Arrangements by O'Donnell Funeral Home in Lowell (978) 458-8768 and Quattlebaum Funeral Home in West Palm Beach.
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