Nancy Lou Brunner Hurley

Nancy Lou Brunner Hurley died on Wednesday in Owensboro. After a months-long decline, the cause was complications due to emphysema. She was 75.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 25, 1933, Nancy was descended from, as she described, "good German, English, and Italian stock." Harry Brunner, her father, worked at Westinghouse on radar used in World War II. Her mother, Roberta "Bertie" Brandt Brunner, was a homemaker.

In her childhood, Nancy enjoyed summers on the family farm and started first grade at age five. She began college at Denison University and was a Delta Gamma. As a chemistry major, she transferred to Carnegie Mellon University and graduated in 1954.

It was at Carnegie Mellon that she met her husband, Wallace "Bill" Hurley, Jr. They married after graduation and moved to South Arkansas, Bill's family's home.

His family owned and operated the Hurley Company and the Hurley Printing Plant which produced books, magazines, and school yearbooks. Nancy acted as an editor and proofreader for the family business. She was also active in Jaycettes and served as president for the Camden, Arkansas chapter.

As a wife and mother, family was paramount to her. She treasured spending time with family and creating memorably holidays and traditions. Her All Bran rolls, sea foam salad, and Christmas cookies were unparalleled. Larry, her son, often brought home loads of squirrel, fish, and venison, which she proudly cooked up and served.

In the early 1970s, with her children in school, she became a high school science teacher, teaching chemistry, biology, trigonometry, geometry, business math, and pre-calculus. Being an educator during a teaching shortage, her son, Phil, had the experience of being in her geometry class and had to learn how to not call the teacher, "Mom."

Later, she worked at the Camden, Arkansas, International Paper Plant as a quality control expert for a number of years and found the work to be so physically demanding that she changed careers, becoming a real estate agent for Century 21, as she put her daughter, Janet, through college.

In 1996, Nancy moved to Owensboro to be close to family and retired from Motion Industries in 2001. She was a member of Settle Memorial United Methodist Church and cherished her friends in the Mary Lou Phillips Sunday School Class.

Nancy had the strength and determination to do anything she put her mind to; if she didn't know how to do something, she invented a way. Carol Michalski, her sister confirmed, with a giggle, "We Brunners never give up." And, in fact, this was the way Nancy approached dying, rallying again and again.

She was an accomplished seamstress, avid knitter, animal lover, and bridge player. She also tried new diversions such as traveling to France and Japan and watercolor painting, creating a life-like puffin portrait, straight from the pages of National Geographic Magazine.

She was preceded in death by her parents and two infant daughters.

Survivors include a son, Dr. Philip Hurley, and his wife, Mary Beth, of Owensboro, KY; a son, Larry Hurley, and his wife, Karen, of Clinton, TN; a daughter, Dr. Janet Hurley, of Owensboro, KY; three grandchildren, Peter Hurley, Melissa Hurley, and Lauren Hurley; a sister, Carole Michalski, of Twin Falls, OH; and, several nieces and nephews.

Services are 12 noon, Saturday at Glenn Funeral Home, with burial at Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and after 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Memorials may take form to Settle Memorial United Methodist Church, 201 East 4th St., Owensboro, KY 42303 or to the Owensboro Daviess County Humane Society, 3101 West 2nd Street, Owensboro, KY 42301