John Hurt

January 4, 1919 - August 7, 2011

Obituary for John Hurt Tupelo, Miss John Earl Hurt, 92, died Sunday, August 7, 2011 at Sanctuary Hospice House in Tupelo. He was born January 4, 1919 near Martin, Tennessee. He lived in Union City, Tennessee, from the age of eleven until he joined the United States Army Air Force in 1940, where he served in both the European and Pacific Theaters during World War II. John was married to Inelle Broadway in April of 1947 in Georgetown, South Carolina. They had been married almost 61years at the time of Inelle's death in March, 2008. John and Inelle lived in St. Louis, MO until 1951 when they moved to Tupelo. In 1952 he moved his family to Memphis where he worked for the Tayloe Glass Company until his retirement in 1984. In 1994 John and Inelle moved to Mentone, AL where they lived and assisted their son, Phil, and his wife Marsha at Camp DeSoto. They moved back to Tupelo in 2004, living at Traceway Retirement Community. Always active and devoted to his local church, he served as deacon, Sunday School teacher and director, and in numerous other ways in the Third Baptist Church of St. Louis, Highland Heights and Colonial Baptist Churches in Memphis, Moon Lake Baptist Church in Mentone, AL, and at Calvary Baptist Church in Tupelo. At Calvary he has been known and loved for his telephone calls of encouragement to church members on their birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. Services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at Calvary Baptist Church with Dr. David Eldridge, Rev. Steve Hurt and Peter Hurt officiating. Graveside services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Bankhead Cemetery in Mentone, Alabama. W. E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements. He is survived by one sister, Grace Ritchie, of Wichita Falls, Texas; three children, Steve (Debbie) Hurt of Tupelo, Joy (Chuck) Hill of New Albany, and Phil (Marsha) Hurt of Mentone, Alabama. He leaves eight grandchildren. They are John (Rosie) Hurt of Henderson, Colorado; Will Hurt of Tupelo; Josh (Lauren) Hurt of Tupelo; Holly (Daniel) Thompson of Saulsbury, Tennessee; Captain Charlie Hill (currently serving in the US Army in Afghanistan); Peter (Nicole) Hurt of Fort Collins, Colorado; Stuart Hurt of Mentone; and Sarah Hurt of Mentone, Alabama. He is also the great grandfather of Sierra and Steven Hurt, Clayton and John Michael Hurt, and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb Thompson. He was preceded in death by his wife, Inelle; his parents, Emmett Leon and Alma Janes Hurt, four sisters and one brother. His grandchildren will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Adult A Sunday School of Calvary Baptist Church. Visitation will be Monday, August 8 from 5-7 p.m. at the funeral home. The body will lie in state at the church from 10 a.m. until service time Tuesday at the Church. Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com Memorials to Blue Mountain College (PO Box 160, Blue Mountain, MS 38610), Calvary Baptist Church Building Fund (P.O. Box 1008, Tupelo, MS 38802), or Sanctuary Hospice House.