The last surviving Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI) Veteran to have fought at Dieppe has passed away.

Ken Curry’s daughter, Lillian, says he has died of natural causes at a Victoria, B.C., hospital at the age of 97.

Curry grew up in Stoney Creek and was 17 years old when the Second World War broke out in 1939. He was held as a prisoner of war for almost three years after the failed raid on the beach in France on Aug. 19, 1942.

He became an electrician after the war and retired from Stelco at age 60. He eventually moved to British Columbia for family reasons.

Curry was last in Hamilton in 2019 for a service at the Dieppe Memorial.

Lillian says she loses a “fantastic dad” who was loved by everybody and will be remembered for his kindness.

Keven Ellis, president of the Steel City chapter of the North Wall Rider’s Association, says he is beyond heartbroken, noting that Curry saved his cousin’s life after taking mortar fire and fighting side by side on the beach at Dieppe.

With Curry’s death, Ellis says, “we lose part of our identity” and the voice of an era when “we stood tall for our country and for each other.”

Ellis adds that the Steel City riders will be hosting a memorial with Curry’s family, in Hamilton, once the pandemic eases.

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