Don Charles Hurlbut, 87, passed away June 5, 2024. He had been a resident of Pittsburg since 1960.
He was born August 4, 1936, at the old Mt. Carmel Hospital, the son of William Frank and Neva Pearl Wetherell-Akins-Hurlbut, and grew up in the Pleasant View Township of Cherokee County. He attended a one-room grade school from 1942 to 1950, which was located about one mile north of his home on what is now called 100th Street. It was called Neutral District 26. He went to Cherokee County Community High School, where he lettered two years in both football and track. He graduated with the class of 1954.
On February 11, 1960, he married Billie Jo Brooks in Joplin, Missouri. After 44 years of marriage, she passed away on April 18, 2004. He attended Kansas State Teacher College (now PSU), graduating in 1958 with a bachelor's degree, and later completed his master's degree in 1973.
Don joined the Army Reserve unit in Pittsburg in 1958 and took basic in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, and military police training in Ft. Gordon, Georgia. He completed his six-year obligation and was honorably discharged in 1964. He was proud to have his name on a paver at the PSU Veteran's Memorial between those of his father and his grandson.
Don was employed at the Pittsburg division office of the Gas Service Company (now Kansas Gas), first in the accounting department, then in the engineering department from 1959 until early retirement in 1992. He also worked in the office of Phil's Plumbing Company, Pittsburg, and most recently at Cronister's Ace Hardware, Pittsburg, from 1994 until the store closed in 2011.
Membership was held in AARP, the Crawford County Genealogy Society, and Friends of the Pittsburg Library.
He is survived by two daughters, Lisa Jo Chiappetti (Dennis), of Pittsburg, and Tracy Lynn Carrington (Mike), of Opolis; four grandchildren, Samantha (Sean Kinsella) and Sophia Chiappetti, and D.J. Carrington (Zahra) and Erin Martin (Dan); four great-grandchildren, Wesley, Ziya, William, and Zomari; plus several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, a sister, four half-siblings and their spouses, and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, June 10, 2024, at Brenner Mortuary. Burial will follow at the Garden of Memories Cemetery. A visitation will be held on Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Brenner Mortuary. Memorial donations can be made to the Crawford County Genealogy Society or the Cherokee County Genealogy Society.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Brenner Mortuary, 114 E. 4th St., Pittsburg, KS.
