Jules Wilson Hurst

HURST Jules Wilson Hurst, II "Sonny" On Wednesday, February 10, 2016, Jules Wilson Hurst, II, "Sonny" to his friends, went home to be with his Savior. Visitation will be held at Friends in Fellowship Christian Church, 962 Jack Jones Road, Winterville, NC Saturday, February 13, 2016 from 1 p.m. until the service at 2 p.m. with a reception to follow. He was born February 5, 1950, in New Orleans, Louisiana and received a Bachelor of Arts from Southeastern University in Hammond, Louisiana. A perpetual student, he continued to earn degrees throughout his life in subjects ranging from National Security Affairs to Computer Information Systems. He was an avid reader and was rarely found without a book in hand. He joined the US Air Force in 1973 and saw much of the globe as a C-130 pilot, including Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Later, as a military intelligence officer, Jules served as an African specialist, where he advised key US policymakers on US strategies to contain communism at the end of the Cold War at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He retired from active military service in 1993 in Springfield, Virginia, and worked in the private sector before beginning a second career in emergency management at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Jules worked tirelessly after Hurricane Katrina to move supplies to those in need as the FEMA Transportation Director. In 2013, he retired to Winterville, North Carolina, with his wife, Susan Hurst, and actively volunteered with local animal welfare groups. He had a soft spot for animals all his life and regularly purchased food for stray cats he would encounter in grocery store parking lots. Jules also became a member of the Pitt County Wildlife Club, where he enjoyed shooting sports, which were an enormous part of his life. He was preceded in death by his father, Jules W. Hurst. A larger than life personality, Jules is survived by his wife, Susan Mobley Hurst; his children, Jillian Hurst and Christopher Cramer of Durham, NC and Jules Hurst and his fiancée, Elizabeth Fortnum of Savannah, GA; his granddaughter, Evelyn Cramer; his mother, Vera Shettles Hurst of Biloxi, MS; his sisters, Katrinka Legg of Biloxi, MS and Janice Hurst of Kentwood, LA; his nieces and nephews, Adam Legg, Anja Legg, and Connor Legg of Tampa, FL and Jodie Legg of Mesa, AZ and Brandon Travis of Little Rock, AR. Memorial gifts may be made to the Pet Food Pantry of Eastern North Carolina. Arrangements by Wilkerson Funeral Home & Crematory. Online condolences at www.wilkersonfuneralhome.comwww.wilkersonfuneralhome.com