My father, Sidney L. Hurdle, dies at 89

Dad in Juneau, Alaska, on a cruise we took as a family thanks to his largesse, in May 2011.

    My father, Sidney L. Hurdle, died recently. He was 89. He had been ill for some time and confined to a hospital bed (or the chair next to it) for almost eight months. His mind wasn't all there at the end, but in some matters he remained quite sharp. He was ready for death, and in fact told a caregiver that he didn't think he would be alive for another week when she left for the day. He was correct.
    Here was his obituary:

  Sidney L. Hurdle died Saturday, March 9, 2013, after a lengthy illness. He was a native and life-long resident of Marshall County. He was a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the University of Mississippi School of Law. He was a rural land developer, with projects in Mississippi, Ohio, and numerous other states. He was an attorney and once served as attorney for the Marshall County Board of Supervisors. He was a veteran and a member of First Baptist Church of Holly Springs.
  Services were 11 a.m. March 11, 2013 at Holly Springs Funeral Home. Burial will be in Hillcrest Cemetery.
  He is survived by three sons, Lanier Hurdle, Mike Hurdle, both of Holly Springs and Frank Hurdle of Oxford; six grandchildren, Sidney Lanier “Sy” Hurdle III, Jamie Hurdle Ammerman, Cayce Hurdle, Jesse Hurdle, Albert Sidney “Ash” Hurdle, and Lucy Karr Hurdle; and numerous nieces and nephews.
  Pallbearers were Jonathan Burch, Jason Burch, Joshua Ammerman, Sy Hurdle, Jesse Hurdle and Ash Hurdle.
  Memorials may be made to Sidney L. Hurdle charitable fund, c/o Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, 315 Losher St. Suite 1, Hernando, MS, 38632.

     There is, of course, so much more to a life than can be told by an obituary. Yet what we put in the paper is what most people want to read.
    This being my blog, I'm going to share over the next few days a few stories from my Dad's life. Some of these are stories about him. Some of these are stories that he told us as we were growing up. The good news for you as a reader of this blog are two-fold. First, you don't have to read anything you don't want to! Second, some of the stories have some real entertainment value.
    One of my favorite professors at Ole Miss was Jere Hoar, who taught in the journalism school. I know I had him for three classes, but maybe four. There were a few things that he would repeat in every class, one of them being the claim of some sociologist that if "You tell me a family's stories, I can tell you that family's values."
    So for the next few weeks I'll share a few of my Dad's stories, and from them you will know a little about his values.