N.J. Woman Killed At Superfund Site Was Adventurer, Smile 'Lit A Up Room'

Rachel Curry liked to go anywhere, and it didn't matter how difficult it was to get there.

The 20-year-old New Jersey woman had been to 27 states and trekked through Southeast Asia, Israel, Peru, Bolivia and many other places in her short life, according to her obituary.

Most of all, friends and family remembered that smile, bright and radiant, she displayed as she lived through as much adventure as she could.

"I had the opportunity of meeting her only once," one person, Ellen Fahey of Hamilton, wrote on a tribute page for Rachel. "But I found her to be such a lovely young woman."

Now that smile is gone.

Curry, of Bloomsbury, whose birthday is on Sept. 19, died when she plunged to her death at a New Jersey Superfund site on Friday, police said. She was walking on a catwalk when she fell.

Those who loved her spirit remembered the woman Monday as an inspiration, somebody who took risks and never displayed any displeasure about it.

"We all have lost truly and beautiful woman, with the soul of angel," the Ripp family wrote on her obituary tribute page. "Her smile could light up a room. Our hearts are breaking."

Curry was a student at Evergreen State College near Seattle who graduated from Delaware Valley Regional High School in 2013 in Frenchtown.

Her obituary noted that she was known for her "radiant smile, kindness, generous spirit, and passion for adventure and travel."

Besides being an exchange student in Germany, Rachel loved the outdoors and was passionate about the environment. "She made a mark on hundreds of cousins and friends," her obituary said.

"I believe she's not far from you as she'll live on through your lives as she remains deep within your hearts," Fahey wrote on the tribute page.

Tributes from her family and friends appeared on Facebook and other social media.

Authorities discovered Curry at the Crown Vantage Landfill Superfund site in Alexandria Township on Friday night after getting a report on the fall, police said.

State police say Curry was near a smokestack when she fell at 11:55 p.m., and she was declared dead at the scene, according to police.

State Police responded to the scene, along with the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office, detectives and a local rescue squad, according to police.

Crown Vantage is near the Delaware River and was formerly a landfill used by a paper mill to dump hazardous waste from the 1930s to the 1970s, according to police.

Rachel is survived by her parents, Thomas and Debra (Wohl) Curry, of Holland Township; her brother, Brett Curry, of Holland Township; her sister, Candace Redwine, of Tennessee; and her maternal grandparents, Herbert and Mickey Wohl of Middle Island, New York.

She is also survived by her many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Rachel was predeceased by her paternal grandparents, Vernor and Birdie Curry, and her stepsister, Jennifer Rathel.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. at the Johnson-Walton Funeral Home, 24 Church Road, Holland Township, followed by words of remembrance from 6-7 p.m.

Here are other social posts connected to Curry:

Patch file photo