YOUR LIFE
PAUL RIDDLE, KORY WENDEROTH, SCOTT VANWORMER, KENT WENDEROTH AND HERB CURRY
BY THE POSEY COUNTY NEWS
HERB CURRY INC. STRIVES TO SATISFY YOUR BURNING DESIRES erb Curry Inc. in Mount Vernon is celebrating its expansion and the addition of a new business associate. The unassuming company on Leonard Road strives to “satisfy your burning desires” through small scale fire tests on materials used for the inside of commercial aircraft. It is one of twenty such companies in the entire world and the only such company that tests independent of manufacturers. It is the only such company certified by Boeing, and it is also certified by the FAA. The expansion will add approximately 1,000 square feet to the building, nearly doubling its size. Company founder Herb Curry has much anticipated the new construction after over 20 years in business. “We duplicated every piece of equipment five or six years ago,” he explains. “We needed it all and then some. We now have three of everything.” He admits, “It’s a rather fascinating place to be. I got into it in 1985. FAA regulations required tougher tests for materials used in the interior of aircraft. I helped to set up a testing lab for GE. Then in 1991, GE had a cutback and offered me an early retirement package [after 30 years with the company] as well as a consulting job to keep the lab going for GE. With the blessing of GE, I started doing tests for other companies also. After six years, the company had grown until I needed help and became partners with Kent Wenderoth.” Now, the company includes three more business associates: Scott VanWormer, Curry’s son-in-law; Kory Wenderoth, Kent’s son; and new hire Paul Riddle, added May 1. Herb Curry Inc. has been instrumental in working with the FAA to create maximum safety under crash conditions for airplane passengers. “The FAA ran a full-scale test in the 1980s to see how long it takes people to get out of an airplane in crash conditions,” Curry states. “They found survivors can get out in two minutes. But in 1980, there were five post-crash fires where nobody survived. The FAA said something had to be done about it.” During this time, it was determined that GE’s Lexan material ignited quickly, making it unsuitable for aircraft. The FAA was ready to bar all plastic materials from airplane manufacturing—until Curry, showed them Ultem, another GE plastic. “It didn’t ignite for four minutes,” Curry comments. The discovery saved the day for both the airlines and the plastics industries. Today, Herb Curry Inc. tests materials used in aircraft interiors for Boeing as well as Airbus from companies around the globe. Curry and his associates regularly entertain international visitors from Japan, Europe and New Zealand. He has even hosted clients from South Africa, who have traveled farther than anyone to watch the flammability testing of their materials. “I tell them you can learn more by coming in and watching burns than by looking at the numbers,” Curry says. Curry and his wife Betty have done their share of national and international travel as well. “Our younger daughter says she was 12 years old before she found out we didn’t have to move every three years,” Curry says, recalling the constant relocation his work required. He and Betty planned to live out their golden years in Hendersonville, North Carolina (near Asheville), one of their favorite locations. When their two daughters married Hoosiers, the Currys settled in Mount Vernon, where they first lighted in 1973. The Greenville, South Carolina, natives have truly made Mount Vernon their home. Four years ago, with the help of the GE Foundation, the couple started an annual college scholarship fund with the Posey County Community Foundation that benefits students in the performing arts, a passion for the Currys. Both have starred in amateur theater musicals and plays in Evansville and summer stock theater in New Harmony. It all started when they “brought the house down” one summer with their performance in the comedy “Anything Goes” on a Hendersonville, North Carolina, stage. Herb continues to sing with the Sunday choir and with a Southern Gospel sextet at First United Methodist Church in Mount Vernon. He’s made a joyful noise in United Methodist church choirs for 70 years so far. He has sung with the Evansville Philharmonic Chorus as well. There’s more. Curry remains an active member of the Kiwanis, the Elks and the Western Hills Country Club in Mount Vernon as well as of the Kennel Club of Evansville. He serves on the board of the Greater Mount Vernon Association and just completed a six-year term on the board of the Posey County Community Foundation. Nonetheless, the greatest joy in the life of Curry and his wife Betty is spending time with their daughters, Susan and Clay Jeffries and Leigh Anne and Scott VanWormer, and their families. Their four grandsons— Jon (14), Eli (11), Gabriel (9) and Zachary (6)—keep everyone active. “Most of the people that I met 25 years ago are no longer working,” Curry reflects. “They’ve all retired or gone on to their reward otherwise.” The youthful octogenarian shows no signs of being a candidate for retirement or for heaven for years to come. “Bill Gates says he tap dances to work every day because of the possibilities,” he says. “I think that sums me up. I tap dance to work every day because I enjoy it.” He says he will retire “when they close the lid.”
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SMOKE DENSITY
FLAMMABILITY HEAT RELEASE
STORY BY PAM ROBINSON VISUALS BY ZACH STRAW
LEONARD ROAD MOUNT VERNON, IN
PRODUCT TESTING
SAMPLES
LOADING THE CHAMBER