DONALD W. HURD SR. 1937 - 2008

Hurd

Donald W. Hurd, Sr., 70, of Gulf Breeze died at home April 24, 2008, after battling Progressive Supranuclear Palsy for six years.

Hurd was born Nov. 22, 1937, in Fairview, Ohio. He was preceded in death by grandson, Adam Castleberry, 16, of Pensacola. He is survived by his wife Ann Kell Hurd, Gulf Breeze; sons, Donald Jr. , Kelly Hurd, Gene Hurd and Erin Hurd, all of Gulf Breeze; two daughters, Donna Sherrer and husband Craig of Woodstock, Ga., and Natalie Hurd of Gulf Breeze, 13 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren; two sisters, Nancy Statford of Vermilion, Ohio, and Betsy Slivcoff of Simi Valley, Calif., as well as a host of relatives throughout Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, Northern Ohio, Tennessee and Arizona.

Hurd owned Golden Crescent Electric in Lorain and Elyria, Ohio, from 1964 to 1971. He moved to Gulf Breeze, where he owned Hurd Electric from 1972 to 1990. He then took an opportunity to work at Universal Studios as a pyro-technician, electrician and stuntman until 1993. He returned to Gulf Breeze and worked parttime in the electrical business until the disease overtook his physical ability.

Hurd is the first person in this area to donate his brain for research Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Society. He made this important decision to help others because there is no known cause or cure for this deadly brain disease.

Services will be Saturday, May 3, at 4 p.m. at Rose Lawn Funeral Home in Gulf Breeze. Donations to Emerald Coast Hospice of Pensacola may be made in lieu of flowers.