CHATHAM — Lee Curry doesn’t let his age stop him from getting around.
The 96-year-old World War II veteran keeps busy in his garden. He said he can easily spend up to 10 hours a day in his backyard. Since last year, Curry, who lives on the 400 block of East 88th Place, has expanded his garden. There are lots of new additions, he said.
He now has corn, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, okra and grapes. Curry has so much food that he willingly gives it away to neighbors.
Neighbor Leroy McCray said Curry is always in the garden and has no problem giving away stuff. McCray started his own garden, but said his can’t even compare to Curry’s. He learned how to manage his own from books and the wealth of knowledge Curry offers.
The veteran said he’s been working his whole life so it doesn’t feel right to stop now.
“I was 6 years old when I got my first job sweeping,” he said. His mother taught him to “love and work hard.”
Born on a plantation in Georgia, Curry grew up with sharecropper parents who worked the fields and he would watch them as a child. He moved to Chicago in 1947, he said, because the racial tensions were too high in the South. He has been here ever since.
His block’s annual block party is Aug. 27.
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