By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Michael Joseph Curro, assistant director for budget issues for the U.S. General Accounting Office since 1992, died April 16 of brain cancer at his home in Crofton, Md.

A Clifton native, Mr. Curro, 54, graduated from Roger Bacon High School and remained a "rabid Roger Bacon fan," said Tim Burke of Columbia Tusculum, a college friend.

Mr. Curro received a bachelor's degree in political science from Xavier University, where he was involved in student government.

"That was back in the '60s, when there were lots of debates about everything from the war in Vietnam to civil rights to the environment," Burke said.

"Mike was one of those who would always challenge you to think more. In the process, he made the results inevitably better and he made the people better as well. He carried that idea of making government function better over into everything that he did.

"Mike was one of the brightest people I've ever dealt with and somebody who was incredibly dedicated to government service."

After graduating from Xavier in 1970, Mr. Curro was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army 528th Field Artillery Group in Turkey until 1972.

He received a master's degree in public administration from Ohio State University and worked as a researcher for the Legislative Service Commission of the Ohio State Legislature

He joined the GAO in 1974 as a senior evaluator for field operations in Cincinnati.

In 1982, he moved to Washington to become assistant to the assistant comptroller. He later served as deputy director for the office of information management.

The GAO presented him the Comptroller General's Special Award and numerous commendations for his leadership and innovative approaches to performance budgeting.

Mr. Curro taught courses on federal budget issues at Georgetown University's Government Affairs Institute, the U.S. Agriculture Department Graduate School and Central Michigan University's Center for Strategic Management.

He was the founding president of the Cincinnati chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

Mr. Curro had made his home in Crofton, Md., for 20 years.

Survivors include his wife, Jacqueline Fourman Curro; a son, M. Joseph Curro of New York; a daughter, Natalie M. Curro of Crofton; his parents, Anna Rose Wolfzorn and Charles F. Curro of Clifton; a sister, Maria Curro Kreppel of Pleasant Ridge; and two brothers, Charles F. Curro Jr. and John J. Curro.

The family will receive visitors 6-7 p.m. tonight at the parish hall across the street from the Church of the Annunciation, 3457 Clifton Ave., Clifton. Mass of Christian burial follows at 7:15 p.m. at the church. Interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Montgomery will be private.

Memorials: Catholic Relief Services, 209 W. Fayette St., Baltimore, MD 21201, or any hospice.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com