April 22, 1925 – July 4, 2013
Walter Allen Hurd, 88, passed away on July 4, 2013 at his home in Carpinteria, California. Walter was born April 22, 1925 in Rahway, New Jersey to Helen J. and William J. Hurd.
Walter’s parents were both from Vermont and that is where he met his wife to be, Barbara Clark at Lake Champlain at the age of 15 years old. Barbara went into Nurses training in Fitchburg, Massachusetts at the age of 17 where she majored in OB/GYN and Walter enlisted in the Army at the age of 18 and was stationed in England, France and Germany. He was discharged from the Army in April of 1946 after serving 2 1/2 years. Barbara and Walter were married June 23, 1946 at Barbara’s home in Vermont. Walter and Barbara recently celebrated their 67th Anniversary at their home in Carpinteria with 110 Friends and Family in attendance.
Walter was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Richard M. Hurd. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Barbara Hurd, his three sons, Ronald (Jennifer) Hurd, James (Renee`) Hurd, Timothy (Dori) Hurd and his two daughters Linda (Steve) Hockins, and Carrie (David) Kirchner, sixreen Grandchildren and seventeen Great-Grandchildren.
In 1946 Walter attended Plastics School in Los Angeles and then returned to New Jersey where he and Barbara had their first son, Ronald Walter, in East Orange, New Jersey. When Ronald was 9 months old the opportunity came up to move back to California to attend West Coast University Engineering College in Los Angeles where he earned a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Walter was employed by Douglas Aircraft and Hughes Aircraft while living in Los Angeles. Linda, Carrie, James and Timothy were all born in Santa Monica.
In 1957, Walter moved the family to Carpinteria, California to work for AMF at the Vandenberg Air Force Base on the Titan Missle Underground Launcher until the contract ended. There were not many opportunities in this field so Walter became a Realtor/Broker and in 1980 opened his own business Walter Hurd Realty.
On November 1, 1978 Walter was sponsored into the Carpinteria Lions Club by Jim Ballard. He was the Club Secretary for 10 years and in 2009 he received the clubs highest honor, The Melvin Jones Fellowship Award from the Lions Club President, Vincent Choate. For many years he ran the horseshoe tournament at the July 4th Annual Picnic at the Lions Club.
Walter learned to play the saxophone at an early age and worked in many small bands. However, his best fun came when he and Bob Schnackenberg, started playing together. They called themselves “The Maestros” and you could find them most Wednesday nights playing at The Palms Restaurant in Carpinteria.
Walter will be remembered for his wonderful smile, his beautiful blue eyes and for the great love that he had for his wife, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and his love for a good party!
Please join the Hurd Family for a celebration of the wonderful life of
Walter Hurd.
Sunday, July 21st at 4:00 pm, Carpinteria Lions Club Community Building,
6197 Casitas Pass Road.
In lieu of flowers, Please send donations to:
The Carpinteria Lions Building Association,
PO Box 253, Carpinteria, CA 93014
