William (BILL) Howard Hurt

WILLIAM (BILL) HOWARD HURT was born December 12, 1933, in the family home about 8 miles north of Elkton, Kentucky.  He grew up on the family farm, he attended his first 3 years at Sharon Grove, the school closed, and they were bussed into Elkton where he attended until he graduated in 1954.  Then he volunteered for the Army, where he served 3 years, most of that being served in Alaska, he was discharged in 1957.   After that he attended Coyne Electric in Chicago, Ill learning the electrical trade.  While there, he became good friends with one of his classmates, Bob Trekell, who came to Cortez to oversee the wiring of Paradise Village, Bill couldn’t find work at home in Kentucky so he came to Cortez and worked for Bob while they were wiring all of the houses.

 
 Bill met a girl named Ruthie Graves and they went together for a while, then the project was finished. He moved to Security, Co and worked for a contractor there, Jim Burnside.  While there his old girlfriend wrote to him and suggested he write to her friend Karel Helvey. He did and they met for the first time on Memorial Day weekend 1960. From there he made trips to Cortez to see Karel, then in August he said he didn’t want to make trips to Cortez during the winter months and would she marry him. She said yes and they were married on October 21, 1960.

 From Security, Bill and Karel moved to Derby, Co (Now known as Commerce City). While there, their oldest son, Steven was born in 1962. Later they purchased a house in Arvada, CO and in 1964 Terry Lynn was born. Denver was growing and becoming a more difficult place to live, so on a trip to Cortez to visit Karel’s parents he was offered a job helping wire the new high school, so they sold their home in Arvada and moved to Cortez in 1967. Helping Karel’s parents finish the building of their new home on M road.

 In the years that followed they would move to Craig, Co. From there they spent 7 ½ years in childcare in Gallup, NM at Manuelito Christian Children’s Home, from there they went to Portales, NM and worked at the Christian Children’s Home there. After that they moved back to Cortez, Co. and stayed there until 2021 when they moved to Lubbock, TX to be close to their son Steve, the grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Bill was a avid woodworker, as a hobby. In 2014 Bill fell off a roof and broke his back and never really recovered from that He used a walker to get around until August 23 when his condition got bad enough that he was bed bound until his passing. Bill was a faithful member of the Church of Christ, serving as a deacon in several locations.

 

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Edgar Baker and Effie May (Page) Hurt, two brothers, Paul Hurt, and Clarence Hurt and wife Hazel Hurt, and Cindy Hurt, Steve's first wife. Those left to cherish his many memories are his wife of 63 years, Karel Ruth (Helvey) Hurt, 2 sons, Steven Frank (Virginia ) Hurt and Terry Lynn (Lorrie) Hurt, a sister, Jewell Dean Morgan, 3 granddaughters, Megan (Ian) Frank, Amanda (Ian) McBratney, and Rachel (Caleb) Hendrix, and three great-grandsons, Eli, Ben, and Jayson Frank.

The family of William Howard Hurt will honor and celebrate his life with a memorial service at 2:00PM, Saturday, April 13, 2024 at Quaker Ave Church of Christ 1701 Quaker Ave, Lubbock, with David Langford officiating. the service will be livestreamed for those individuals unable make it to the service. please contact the church for instructions on how to log in to the livestream.  

Per request from the family of Bill Hurt, in lieu of flowers, please honor Bill by making a donation to Four Corners Encampment P.O.Box 145 Cortez, CO 81321 or by email at https://fcyecamp.com/about/ 

Arrangements were entrusted to Combest Family Funeral Homes and Crematory.