Robert P. Curran, 62, deputy commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare, died unexpectedly yesterday at his home, 6 Hobson St., Roslindale. Mr. Curran joined the Welfare Department in 1946. He had been deputy commissioner since 1953. He was acting commissioner for a month last year pending the appointment of a permanent commissioner.

As a Marine lieutenant in World War II, Mr. Curran was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters. He won the Navy Cross on Iwo Jima in March 1945 when he led a rifle company in a successful attack against superior enemy forces. The medal citation noted that although under treatment for chest wounds: "By his personal leadership of assault elements, by his outstanding courage in the face of overwhelming odds, and by his willingness to expose himself to danger in directing the attacks, he achieved...annihilation of the enemy forces, seizing numerous hostile fortified positions and killing a large number of the enemy..."

The Silver Star was awarded for volunteering to lead a patrol on Saipan, June 23, 1944, which flushed out enemy snipers. That citation read in part: "With utter disregard for his own personal safety, he maneuvered his patrol into position and although wounded himself by sniper fire, he continued to direct operations, successfully evacuating the casualties his patrol sustained, and continued the attack until his mission was accomplished, whereupon he withdrew the remaining men and rejoined his company..."

Mr. Curran was born March 5, 1913, in South Boston, the son of Joseph Curran and Margaret (Wallace) Curran. He was a graduate of South Boston High School, Boston College (Class of 1935), and the Boston College School of Social Work in 1938. Before the war, he was a social worker in White Plains, N.Y.

At South Boston High, he was captain of the football and baseball teams and held the 100-yard dash record. At Boston College, he was a star football back for the Eagles during the 1933-35 era and was captain of the baseball team in 1935. In addition, he was president of the Student Athletic Association and the Catholic Action Society.

As deputy state welfare commissioner, Mr. Curran made headlines in March 1957 when he told the House Ways and Means Committee that his department's recommended budget for the next fiscal year could be cut about $1,305,000 "without injuring services."

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday in Holy Name Church, West Roxbury. Burial will be in Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline.

-The Boston Globe, Thurs, Jan 22, 1976, pg36