GEORGE WILSON HURD

GEORGE WILSON HURD JR of Knoxville, IL died July 16, 2018 at the age of 78. A licensed funeral director for 57 years, he worked for funeral homes in Moline, Geneseo, Havana, Port Byron, Bloomington and Woodhull before purchasing the Vandemore Funeral Home in Atkinson and the Hendricks Funeral Home in Oneida in 1978, the Martin-Trumbold Funeral Home in Knoxville in 1979, and Root Funeral Home in Maquon in 1994, all of which were operated as Hurd-Hendricks Funeral Homes. He was a sexton of the Knoxville Cemetery at the time of his death, and helped organize and served as both director and EMT for the tri-county ambulance service in Henry, Mercer and Knox counties. A graduate of the Worsham College of Mortuary Science, he served on the Carl Sandburg College of Mortuary Science board and was a member of the Oneida Cemetery Association.