William M. "Bill" Hurst

1920 - 2008

William M. "Bill" Hurst, a native of Santa Barbara, died Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008, at the age of 87. He passed away peacefully at Ventura's Community Memorial Hospital from complications of pneumonia and heart failure.

Bill was born May 4, 1920, in Santa Barbara, which remained his hometown until the early 1970s, when he moved south to Ventura County. In 1984, he established his final home in Fillmore.

During his teens, he played football for Santa Barbara High School, where he graduated in 1938. He attended Wooster College in Ohio for one year whereupon he retuned home to work in his family's business, Hurst Concrete Pipe Co. With ingenuity and tireless effort, he developed the business into a highly successful enterprise that he sold in the early 1990s. To this day, a patent for machinery used in the production of concrete pipe is held in his name. He also owned and managed Hurst Leasing Co. in Ventura where he dealt primarily in heavy equipment and automobiles.

A true example of the men of the Greatest Generation, Bill eagerly served his country as a P-51 fighter pilot during World War II. In 1943 he shipped overseas, where he fought in the European theater until the war's end. He was based in England, where, as a captain, he was assigned to the 55th Fighter Squadron of the 20th Fighter Group. After the war, he continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve from which he retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Never letting interruptions prevail over goals — even ones as significant as the Great Depression and World War II — Bill eventually earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1980.

Bill had his passions! An avid sportsman, he loved duck hunting, golf and sailing. Always one to be active in the organizational aspects of his interests, he was among the first members of the Saticoy Golf and Country Club and was a charter member of the Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club. In 1957, he joined Rancheros Visitadores where he became a member of the Los Amigos Camp. His fellowship in the Rancheros was a great joy in his life, and the annual ride frequently coincided with his birthday! Politics were a priority! He was an energetic supporter of the Republican Party and was very active in several other conservative organizations.

Mr. Hurst is survived by his beloved daughters, Lana Diane Hurst Tuffnell, Linda Denise Hurst, and Wilene Hurst Gilbert, and granddaughter, Ashley Elizabeth Tuffnell, all of Santa Barbara.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at Santa Barbara Cemetery. A reception will follow immediately at Stella Mare's Restaurant, 50 Los Patos Way, at the Bird Refuge in Santa Barbara.

Mr. Hurst may be remembered with donations to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065; or the local chapter of the American Heart Association, 212 W. Figueroa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home and Crematory, 3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura.