Bill Hurley

The Gazette, April 2003: Montgomery Co., MD

William N. Hurley Jr.

William N. "Bill" Hurley, 78, of Montgomery Village, died March 29, 2003, of cardiovascular disease at Washington Adventist Hospital. Born in Princeton, W. Va., on Aug. 7,1924, he was the son of the late Willie Neal and Josephine Hurley.

Mr. Hurley grew up in southwest Virginia and moved with his family to the Washington area at the onset of World War II. He joined the Navy in April 1943 and served as a bomb disposal specialist (Aviation Ordinanceman) in the South Pacific. In 1946, he returned to Gaithersburg, where he lived until his death.

Mr. Hurley was widely known in Montgomery County and beyond as a genealogist and writer, with more than 35 books in print. His series, "Our Maryland Heritage," traced the roots of the Fulks, Fry, King, Walker, Burdette, Watkins and other local families. Mr. Hurley traced his own ancestry to Daniell Hurley, a bondservant who arrived on the Maryland Merchant in 1676 near what became Seat Pleasant.

Mr. Hurley's interest in genealogy began when he learned that his grandfather was 72 when the youngest of his 18 children was born in 1899. His passion led him to devote his time to researching the history of the community where he lived, spending more than five hours each day checking on birth and death records, deeds, wills, settlements of estates, and old newspaper articles and obituaries of people who lived in Montgomery County.

Mr. Hurley worked for Kettler Brothers, Inc., from 1965-85, principally as vice president for business affairs, and was president of the Montgomery Village Foundation for 10 years. William Hurley Park and Pool in north Montgomery Village are named in his honor. Mr. Hurley, a licensed surveyor in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina, surveyed many of the local farms and neighborhoods as partner in Hurley & Cissel Surveys, and served on the Gaithersburg Planning Commission and City Council.

Mr. Hurley is survived by his wife, Catherine; two sisters, Josephine Hurley of Virginia and Jacqueline Hurley of Arizona; two sons, Brad and his wife, Sharon, of Utah, and Neal and his wife, Kathleen, of Gaithersburg; and seven grandchildren.

A reception for family and friends was held at the Barber Funeral Home in Laytonsville. A funeral Mass was celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg.

Memorial contributions in Mr. Hurley's name may be sent to the Montgomery County Historical Society Library in Rockville.