One of Green County’s oldest veteran cheesemakers, Jim Curran aka “The Irish Swiss Cheesemaker” recently celebrated his 91st birthday. From childhood up, Jim was exposed and involved in cheesemaking, with the exception of a serving his country in the Navy. Growing up on a farm in South Wayne, Jim recalls his grandfather supplying milk to the Johnson Cheese Factory where Fred Boub was the cheesemaker. During his High School years Jim lived with John and Irma Marty and worked for them at the Davis factory. After returning from the U.S. Navy in 1954 he worked at the Spece Cheese Factory and later purchased the factory making six kettles of Swiss cheese a day, but when his two boys joined him in the factory, they peaked at twenty-six kettles a day. In the 1980s they expanded owning and operating three factories, the Spece factory, the Davis factory and the South Wayne factory, formerly known as the McKnight factory. The Spece factory was the last factory in the State of Wisconsin having copper kettles. Jim remains a member of the National Historic Cheesemaking Center after serving many years as a volunteer.

Photo supplied by the National Historic Cheesemaking Center