Memorial services have been set for Saturday and next Monday for longtime Fair Haven resident and World War II veteran, Kenneth Hayden Curchin, who passed away peacefully on April 29 at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, at the age of 100.
Another version of the following was originally published in February of 2016 …
The Fair Haven Fisk Chapel AME Church is home to many community founders and their families. Its history juts deep into the entrenched roots of Fair Haven life.
The modest little place and its humble, welcoming people have a very rich history all their own. A lot of the names and faces are traceable back to the early days of the church, back in the mid-1800s.
U.S. Army Sgt. Ken Curchin, pilot in WW II Photo/Curchin family
It’s a pretty well-known fact by now that Fair Haven’s Ken Curchin turned 100 on April 19.
The centenarian who’s favorite mantra is “Never quit!” led what he called a simple life enriched by family and attaining his dream of becoming a pilot when the odds were against him. After helping construct the Alcan Highway in Alaska during World War II, Ken Curchin ended up flying a B-17 Bomber in the war.
Ken Curchin has been all over the world. He’s done and seen a lot. He flew a B-17 Bomber in World War II. He married his best gal and became a dad to five children. He was a barber in his family’s shop on Mechanic Street in Red Bank. He jumped off the Fair Haven Dock. All this and he says, with an eye twinkle and a his own brand of hearty hyena chuckle, that he’s “never been in the newspaper until now, sons a b******!”
Well, this is the second (or, we’re told, third) time, Mr. Curchin. Born on April 19, 1917 in the building that is now Frame It Yourself on River Road in Fair Haven, he is 100 years old today. Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect caught up with him for a second time on Easter. And what a time it was!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Curchin! Listen and learn … (Be sure to click the video to enlarge!)
Sometimes a little solitude, a stroll and a serene scene down by the Fair Haven Dock is the best thing for the soul.
While the scenery may look the same, no two riverfront snapshots in time are ever identical. Each moment is unique. Each picture different. The effect, too, of given day down by that Navesink River can change like, well, the seasons.
It’s spring in Fair Haven. And that riverfront stroll is as soothing as the sun’s warm embrace. That’s because it’s a walk home.
After a week peppered with foul weather, forecasters are seeing the light — sunlight — peering through and making way for some weekend activity in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.
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