Paul Hursh , 17 Sep. 1919 - 01 Nov. 2006

HURSH, SMITH, RATHJE, BALKIN

Posted By: Netha M Meyer (email)
Date: 11/5/2006 at 20:23:02

Paul Hursh, 87, of rural Marengo, Iowa, died Wednesday morning, November 1, at the Iowa Veteran’s Home in Marshalltown, Iowa, where he had resided since March, 2006. Memorial Service: 2 p.m. Sunday, November 12, 2006, at the First Presbyterian Church in Marengo with Rev. Gerald Rife officiating. Memorials may be contributed to the First Presbyterian Church or the Iowa County Conservation Board to be used in its public and educational programs. Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo, is in charge of arrangements.

Paul is survived by his children Daniel Hursh, Morgantown, West Virginia; Lori Rathje and husband Dean, Ely, Iowa; and Nicholas Hursh and wife Cheryl, Waseca, Minnesota; and his grandchildren Megan Hursh, McMinnville, Oregon; Sarah Hursh, Forks, Washington; Jessica Hess, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and John Rathje, Ely, Iowa. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Allen and Robert Hursh, sister Alma Balkin, and wife Dorothy.

Paul Eugene Hursh was born September 17, 1919, south of Marengo, Iowa, the son of Allen Everitt Hursh and Hattie Mae Smith. He attended Fairview Country School and graduated from Marengo High School in 1936. A veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict, Mr. Hursh later owned and operated an agricultural aviation business with his brother and partner Allen.

He was a past Master of the Marengo Masonic Lodge and an officer of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. He belonged to the Izaak Walton League and held numerous offices in the Iowa and national chapters of the Agricultural Aviators’ Association. In his retirement, he was active in the American Legion Post in Marengo and served enthusiastically on a committee that designed and raised funds to build a monument to Iowa County Veterans. Paul was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Marengo.

An avid hunter, fisherman and lover of nature, Mr. Hursh sat on the Iowa County Conservation Board and, in 1985, deeded 28 acres of woodland adjoining his home to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as a wildlife preserve. This gift to the state was designed to guarantee that even after Paul’s death, wildlife would still have “a little spot to get into.” He was honored by the national Izaak Walton League that year for his conservation work. The league, at its national convention in 1985, said Hursh “almost single-handedly transformed his 28-acre property into a haven for wildlife.” (source: CR Gazette, August 10, 1985)

Paul’s body was deeded to University of Iowa Hospitals for research. His cremains will be buried at a graveside ceremony next year.