It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Curtis E. Harding of Naples, Florida and Boothbay Harbor on July 28, 2024.

Curt was born April 18, 1934 and raised in Sudbury, Massachusetts where he was an avid sportsman, excelling in basketball, tennis and skiing. As a young adult, he learned to sail on Cape Cod, becoming the major foundation for his future life. As a teen, he met his future wife, Jeanne, while attending and graduating from Sudbury High School.

Curt went on to attend the University of Colorado but after one year came home and finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of New Hampshire.

Curt was a wholesale florist, a business he took over from his dad but it was not a passion. By this time, he and his now wife, Jeanne Fredey Harding, were developing a passion for sailing and the sea. They purchased a little summer cabin in Maine and over time while raising two boys, owned various sailboats and were members of the yacht club. It was at this time that they decided to purchase a 44-foot sailboat, sell the Sudbury property, enroll the boys in correspondence school, and set sail for the tropics.

Spending two years island hopping in the Caribbean, the family ultimately planted roots in Puerto Rico. Over the next 30-plus years, Curt and Jeanne own private charter vessels in Maine and the Virgin Islands. Prior to retiring, they spent their final decade working as captain and cook on a private vessel. Ultimately, they retired to Boothbay Harbor for the summers and Naples, Florida in the winter, where they lived on a boat until 2021.

Curt is survived by his wife Jeanne of 69 years; sons Robert and Richard Harding, both of Naples, Florida; two sisters Joan Bartlett of Plymouth, Massachusetts and Anne Geller of Los Angeles, California; five grandchildren; and various nephews, nieces and cousins.

There will be a private ceremony in the future.