Nellysford
Nelson County, Virginia
I first met David Curly just after we permanently moved to Nelson County way back in early 2004. You’d see David (Curly to the locals) on his signature rollerblades scooting across the parking lot at Wintergreen Hardware or over at Valleymont Grocery. Until a year or so ago Curly lived behind Wintergreen Hardware. He’d been there for years and years. The new owner told Curly he had to leave after it sold. That’s when he moved into a space by the old Valleymont nearby.
Until this very week Curly could be seen sitting under the awning next to the barber shop near Blue Ridge Pig. He’d have his morning coffee there and read, or play chess with a friend. You’ve see him walking 151 headed to IGA for groceries. To say David Curly was an institution, a legend in Nellysford, would be a big understatement. He was even a cover story back in our charter publication Nelson County Life, Issue 74 in May 2011.
To my disbelief I got a message late Thursday morning that Curly was no more. He was gone. He’d passed away peacefully while sleeping in his room just steps from where he’d lived months before. “A buddy of his that plays chess with him would keep a check on Curly. He’d become concerned that he couldn’t reach him by phone when he called Thursday morning. He drove over here and that’s when we found he’d passed away in his sleep,” Lydia Lester at the barber shop told me Thursday afternoon.
Everyone knew Curly. Visitors coming to stay for a weekend. Locals, and more. He’d often be seen in the hardware store reading or helping a customer find something needed. Often he’d carry whatever they bought out to the car. He was an absolute gentleman.
So how did David Curly end up in Nelson County?
“One weekend a friend of mine said, ‘Let’s go to the mountains’,” and it was as simple as that. “He had a car and I didn’t,” David said with a big smile. Little did he know this backpacking trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains wouldn’t be coming to an end anytime soon. That’s what Curley told our Marcy Gates back in 2011 for the story. She and photographer Hayley Osborne finally convinced him to let us do a story after years of my, and ultimately them asking.
I last saw Curly just a few days ago. We passed one another heading into the IGA. We always say hi to each other and sometimes chat for a few minutes before moving on.
Like many others I have written about here over the years, David Curly was part of the local color, the backdrop that makes Nellysford and Nelson what it is.
It’s gonna be very strange heading in to get my haircut or stopping at Basic Necessities for lunch and not seeing Curly around anymore. For as long as I can remember and long before that, he was just always there.
Thank you Curly for making our days here in Nelson more interesting and giving us that feeling of home.
We miss you already.
See you on the other side.
