February 20, 2012
Curwen, William L., MD
Dr. William Lynch Curwen, a resident of Westwood for over 50 years and also a resident of Southport, Maine, died Sunday, February 12, 2012 with his wife Ruth and 2 highly adored cats by his side, after a long illness. He was 85. William was born in Canton, Ohio, the son of the late Darcy and Carrie (Lynch) Curwen. He graduated from Philips Exeter Academy in 1944, and then served 2 years in the Navy in the Pacific Theater at the end of World War II. William graduated from Harvard University in 1950. Dr. Curwen graduated from Boston University Medical School, class of 1954, followed by internships and residency in dermatology at the Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, New Hampshire. He practiced at Dedham Medical Associates for 34 years until his retirement in 1996. William was a man of many passions;, a life long skier, a golfer, he shot skeet, and restored and sold reed organs. Dr. Curwen backpacked many pounds of provisions miles into the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the AMC huts. He was the stroke oar of the Harvard heavyweight crew, a HAM radio operator and a maker of butter crunch chocolates par excellence up until shortly before his death. He is survived by his wife Ruth G. (Miller) Curwen of Westwood; his children John and his wife Carolyn Curwen of, Tampa, FL, Susan and her husband Jim Snyder of Sedro Wolley, WA. and Austin and his wife Alison of Kingham, Oxfordshire, UK. He is also survived by 6 grandchildren. Relatives and friends are invited to attend his Memorial Service, Saturday, February 25, 2012, at 11 am at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 95 Deerfield Ave, Westwood. Burial will be Thursday, August 9, 2012, at 12 pm in Exeter Cemetery, Linden Street, Exeter, New Hampshire. Memorial contributions can be made to the Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy Street, Boston, MA. 02108 or online at www.outdoors.org