In her 93 years of life, Fredna "Freddy" Curley of Orlando was a stewardess, ran a market research company, co-owned an antiques shop, held a desk job at the FBI, pushed for civil rights and campaigned for politicians.
"She was so active about female independence, even before that was anything anyone had heard of," said her daughter, Louise Bullock of Dunwoody, Ga.
Curley died on Christmas Eve, surrounded by her three children in the home she had custom-built near Mills Avenue in 1952. She had been experiencing breathing problems and had just spent a short stint in the hospital.
Born in Galax, Va., in 1920 and raised in Lowgap, N.C., the former Fredna Armfield spoke with a disarming Southern twang her whole life. After business school at Roanoke College, she briefly took secretarial jobs at the FBI and the Civil Aeronautics Board, Bullock said.
"She couldn't sit still that long. She hated paperwork."
Curley left for a coveted, glamorous job as an American Airlines stewardess in 1942. In those days, planes held as few as 10 pampered passengers, including war heroes and famous people. She told stories about being instructed to pull the window curtains shut when the plane flew over the secret, wartime nuclear power plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Like all of the stewardesses then, she had to quit to marry. She wed Pete Curley, a former Army captain, in Jacksonville in 1945. They lived in several parts of Florida before settling in Orlando while Pete worked as a traveling salesman.
Pete Curley died when their youngest child, Louise, was 14, and Freddy became the head of the household. "She was father, mother, grandmother, grandfather. She filled those shoes and filled them well," her daughter said.
By the 1960s, she was involved in civil-rights issues and active in politics. In 1972, she supported a 24-year-old Dick Batchelor in his first legislative campaign.
"She was like a spark of energy," Batchelor recalled. "She was always there if you wanted someone to walk a precinct or hand out literature." She went on to help with all six of Batchelor's legislative and congressional runs.
That spirit helped her later when she ran a market research company, said longtime friend Sue Rudolph. Some of that work involved tracking down research subjects in long-term studies for follow-up visits.
"Nothing was going to stop her. She went into sketchy neighborhoods with this toy poodle, Gigi, under her arm, knocking on doors. And no one ever turned her down," Rudolph said.
In the '70s and '80s, Rudolph and Curley ran an antique shop in Maitland, which later moved to an antiques mall on Lake Ivanhoe.
Source: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com
"She was so active about female independence, even before that was anything anyone had heard of," said her daughter, Louise Bullock of Dunwoody, Ga.
Curley died on Christmas Eve, surrounded by her three children in the home she had custom-built near Mills Avenue in 1952. She had been experiencing breathing problems and had just spent a short stint in the hospital.
Born in Galax, Va., in 1920 and raised in Lowgap, N.C., the former Fredna Armfield spoke with a disarming Southern twang her whole life. After business school at Roanoke College, she briefly took secretarial jobs at the FBI and the Civil Aeronautics Board, Bullock said.
"She couldn't sit still that long. She hated paperwork."
Curley left for a coveted, glamorous job as an American Airlines stewardess in 1942. In those days, planes held as few as 10 pampered passengers, including war heroes and famous people. She told stories about being instructed to pull the window curtains shut when the plane flew over the secret, wartime nuclear power plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Like all of the stewardesses then, she had to quit to marry. She wed Pete Curley, a former Army captain, in Jacksonville in 1945. They lived in several parts of Florida before settling in Orlando while Pete worked as a traveling salesman.
Pete Curley died when their youngest child, Louise, was 14, and Freddy became the head of the household. "She was father, mother, grandmother, grandfather. She filled those shoes and filled them well," her daughter said.
By the 1960s, she was involved in civil-rights issues and active in politics. In 1972, she supported a 24-year-old Dick Batchelor in his first legislative campaign.
"She was like a spark of energy," Batchelor recalled. "She was always there if you wanted someone to walk a precinct or hand out literature." She went on to help with all six of Batchelor's legislative and congressional runs.
That spirit helped her later when she ran a market research company, said longtime friend Sue Rudolph. Some of that work involved tracking down research subjects in long-term studies for follow-up visits.
"Nothing was going to stop her. She went into sketchy neighborhoods with this toy poodle, Gigi, under her arm, knocking on doors. And no one ever turned her down," Rudolph said.
In the '70s and '80s, Rudolph and Curley ran an antique shop in Maitland, which later moved to an antiques mall on Lake Ivanhoe.
Source: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com