Bonni Curran MD

Bonni L. Curran.

She was our friend. The friend you knew would always be there for you. The one who always called you back. The one you trusted.

You saw her about town. Laughing with a girlfriend. Engaged in the task of the moment.

And her smile. We’ll never forget her smile.

She scaled our mountains with a joy and relish you wouldn’t expect in a Brooklyn girl. Fished as if she grew up doing it. And rode her bike with the endurance of an accomplished long distance athlete. And if you took her to the Sun Valley Gun Club, she could shoot like Annie Oakley.

She was ours.

She loved this valley. For sixteen years she touched us all. As a best friend, new friend, co-worker, volunteer, or the girl who simply changed your day with a welcoming glance and funny line.

Her energy was boundless. Whether romping with her dog Ferris or taking on a cause she deeply believed in. And there were many.

If your child was struggling to find their first job, she’d pitch in to help. If your sister needed a rare medical specialist, she would do the research and find just the right person.

But the dedicated net she cast extended way beyond our glorious mountains.

For several years, she and her husband, Peter, have immersed themselves in the health problems of the world. Peter with the general population. She with disadvantaged women. Helping to set up a critical women’s clinic in Cambodia. Working in Bhutan, Liberia, Uganda and India.

In January, she and Peter each earned a Master’s Degree in Health Delivery Science from Dartmouth College. As a way to extend the work they were doing. And in the last several months have helped to set up a company to do this work. In the United States and abroad. Two people committed to making a difference. And they were.

Bonni earned her undergraduate degree from Brandeis. With follow-up degrees and studies at Columbia and a medical degree from SUNY Stony Brook, culminating in a residency in radiology at the University of Illinois.

While she was a woman passionate about people and making a difference, she also enjoyed her personal, private passions. She had a curiosity and instinct for travel. It spurred family travel all over the world. She loved it. The more exciting and exotic the better. The Currans were off!

And the arts. The arts led her locally to being on the boards of The Sun Valley Center For the Arts and The Nexstage Theater. She supported and never missed the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. You would often see her glued to the speaker, while a knitting project engaged her fingers. She never looked down.

And nationally, the arts took her back to her Brooklyn birthplace and New York City. Where she voraciously explored all aspects of theater, music and dance.

But no greater passion lived within her than for her family. They were her world, her team, her life. Her beloved daughters, Jessie and Cody. The girls she most wanted to spend time with. Catch on the phone most every day. And Peter. Her husband. Her guy. Her true love.

And, her extended family. Her mom, Rhoda Levine. Her friends and brothers Richard and Mark. Mark’s wife Chrissie, her playful, adored nephews, Jacob and Jayden, and niece, Jamison. And, Connie, her sister-in-law, who she felt so lucky to have in her life, husband Roemer, and wonderful Michael, her oldest nephew.

And the friends and families all over this country and world that she touched. And made a difference for.

Bonni.

She had unbounded energy, a luminous, inner glow, and a true joy for life. All of which she extended to us. May we all strive to continue her legacy through shared laughter, easy smiles, unbridled joy, and the innate passion for helping each other. And the world.

Bonni….burn on sweet, bright star. You have left us too soon. We will miss you deeply.

If you would like to make a donation in Bonni’s honor, the Bonni L. Curran Philanthropic Fund has been established to continue her legacy of generosity in areas of global health, the arts, and women’s causes and can be accessed at http://www.crowdrise.com/bonniphilanthropicfund..