Former detective Edward F. Curran dies at 91

Edward F. Curran, who as a Nassau County police detective helped crack a sensational 1956 baby-kidnapping case, died Monday in his sleep at his Mineola home. He was 91.

Curran was elevated to chief of detectives in 1962 -- a promotion due in large measure to his collaboration with FBI investigators on the July 4 abduction in Westbury.

Handwriting analysis led to the arrest and confession of Angelo LaMarca, a Plainview mechanic, who was later convicted of murder and executed.

LaMarca took Curran and other investigators to the wooded area where he had left the baby. The month-old boy had died of exposure.

By his retirement in 1979, Curran had reached the rank of first deputy commissioner. He was also a longtime volunteer with the Elmont Fire Department and New York State's Retired Police Association, which named him president.

When it comes to those and other roles, "no one can fill his shoes," said his granddaughter, Katie Gruner, 36, of Rockville Centre.

Curran worked hard for fellow retirees on a number of issues, said Michael Ferranola, a board member with the association.

SEE PHOTOSNotable LI crimes

"He was a one-of-a kind," Ferranola said. "A top shelf person."

During the high-profile kidnapping investigation, his wife, Ruth, sent him a telegram with 16th wedding anniversary wishes. Curran had been sleeping on a cot at police headquarters.

"He worked day and night for days at a time," she told Newsday in 1962. Ruth, now 92, had been married to Curran for nearly 70 years.

Born in Elmont on Nov. 29, 1920, he attended Sewanhaka High School and worked for Belmont Park before serving in World War II. He joined the Army and fought in the South Pacific as a staff sergeant in the 31st Infantry Division.

SEE PHOTOSNotable deaths: Long Islanders we recently lost

After the war, he returned to Long Island. Looking for a secure job, he joined Nassau County police, Gruner said.

Apart from his work and volunteer activities, he loved spending time at the family's summer house at Loon Lake in the Adirondacks, where Gruner said he enjoyed boating and fishing.

Curran is also survived by a daughter, Barbara Curran Reihing of Mineola; sons Edward of Charlotte, N.C., and Brian of Carle Place; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He also leaves a brother, Raymond, of Wantagh.

The funeral Mass will be Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Corpus Christi Church, Mineola, with burial in St. Boniface Cemetery, Elmont.