Roll Call Tribute

Herbert L. "Herb" Currie, Col. USMC (Ret) 

July 26, 1939 - January 9, 2025 

Herbert Lynn Currie, of Crane, TX, and, in later years, of Bryan/College Station, was a warrior, a father, a leader, and a friend to all who extended a hand in kind.

"Herb" to his friends --"Herbie Lynn" to his family-was born July 26, 1939, in Colorado City, Texas. He is preceded in death by his parents, Dorothy Sue Morrison and Herbert Henry Currie of Crane TX, his grandmother Lenna Nix (Big Mamma), also of Crane, and his brother, David Clinton Currie of Dallas, TX.

He is survived by his three daughters and their spouses--who will miss his love of life, his ribald jokes, and what we call "Herb-isms" (basic truths of life, memorably expressed, using an amalgam of obscenity, expletive prose, and some plain ol' cuss words thrown in for good measure) more than we can say; Shawn Currie Goodnight and Dean Goodnight, Carmen Currie Moyer and Bill Moyer, and Cheryl Lynn Currie and Ashley Thompson and by his grandchildren, Madeleine Goodnight, Garry Moyer, and Stephanie Moyer; and his youngest brother, Thomas Henry Currie of Crane, TX.

Herb passed away from complications due to a stroke on January 9, 2025, in Buda TX. His wife, Sharron June Middlebrook, followed him six days later.

Herb grew up among the pumpjacks and jack rabbits of West Texas. His childhood was a panoply of, sand lot baseball games, shooting jack rabbits and highway signs with his .22 and his friends, and playing pranks on the neighbors after dark, the perpetual smell of crude oil perfuming the air like a shroud. Later, drag races on the flat, open highways; pasture parties; and working part-time on the oil wells to earn a little extra money. He bought his first car at fifteen and got it running by the time he was sixteen. After that, Saturday nights were spent as they are in many small towns, driving up and down the main highway, from one end of town to the other--over and over again--the likes of Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis on the AM radio.

Restless by nature and ambitious by example, Herb left Crane to attend Texas A&M University where he joined the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). After a slightly rocky start, he achieved a leadership position in the Corps and achieved academic excellence in the classroom. Staying true to his roots, Herb spent summers and holidays in Crane where he worked in the oil fields to earn money. It was on one of these working hiatuses that a slight but pretty girl caught his eye. While you couldn't have convinced her then, Sharron Middlebrook, was to become the love of his life, his better half, and his wife. They married in September of 1961 and Herb was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in January of 1962. Hereafter, they began an adventure that would take them to far-flung places meeting and working with people from all over the world.

Growing up in our household was, in and of itself, a multi-cultural experience. Time spent in the Philippines introduced Sharron and Herb to Asian culture which they wholeheartedly embraced. He and Sharron spent many days exploring other major Asian countries in the part of the world: Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, with several overseas assignments included Japan, Korea, and Germany. Among the many different truisms they came away with in their travels, there was one common ideal that he impressed upon us; that people everywhere want the same thing, a place to live prosperously and peacefully, where they can raise their children in security; and that ALL spirituality is holy.

Having spent 30 years as a Marine, Herb was always straightforward and often embarrassingly (to his family) blunt. Yet he somehow managed to gain the respect and to endear himself with almost everyone he met. More often than not, he used these characteristics to provide not only leadership but leadership development, in his junior officers, in his students, and in his neighborhoods. These actions yielded many letters of thanks and "you were right" from those who prospered from his advice. This gruff and intimidating man loved people and they loved him.

After retiring from the military, Herb and Sharron moved back to Texas to be close to family. They bought an historic home in Bryan, Texas, and lovingly restored it...much of it themselves. Soon after, they bought a fancy motor coach (or a "bordello on wheels" as Sharron described it, with an eye roll) and traveled the country together. In looking back at pictures of their travels, it is easy to see that they took advantage of every opportunity and enjoyed life to the fullest.

If you take anything away from this eulogy for a great man, it should be this-

That you glean inspiration from a man who came from modest means, Pulled himself up by his bootstraps, Set a course of achievement using a high standard of excellence, Who put God, country, community, and family ahead of himself, And, through it all, paid his own way.

Graveside Service: Friday, February 28, 2025 11:15AM, Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.