Q. Byrum Hurst, Sr.
| Quincy Byrum Hurst, Sr. | |
Arkansas State Senator
for Garland County | |
| In office 1951 – 1972 | |
Administrative Judge
of Garland County, Arkansas | |
| In office 1947 – 1950 | |
| Born | September 21, 1918 Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA |
|---|---|
| Died | December 4, 2006 (aged 88) |
| Resting place | Morning Star Cemetery in Hot Springs |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Hazel Earline Barham Hurst |
| Children | Q. Byrum Hurst, Jr.
Nancy Hurst Ellis (deceased) |
| Alma mater | Hot Springs High School
Undergraduate education and law school missing |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Religion | Church of God |
Quincy Byrum Hurst, Sr. (September 21, 1918 – December 4, 2006), was an attorney from Hot Springs, Arkansas who was from 1950 to 1972 a Democratic state senator. He vacated his Senate seat to run unsuccessfully against Governor Dale Bumpers, who won the second of his two gubernatorial terms in 1972. Hurst polled 81,239 votes, or 16.4 percent, in the party primary.[1]
Life and career
Hurst was born in Hot Springs, a resort city in central Arkansas, to Floyd Leroy "Roy" Hurst (1899-1988), a minister of the Anderson, Indiana-based Church of God, and the former Clara Alva Cash (1901–2000). He graduated from public schools in Hot Springs and was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1941, having become, at twenty-three, one of the youngest men ever licensed to practice in his state. His extensive legal career took him into all seventy-five Arkansas counties and throughout the United States as well.[1]
In 1943, he entered the United States Army and served for the duration of World War II. On his return from military duties, Hurst was elected in 1947 as county judge, an administrative post, for Garland County, of which Hot Springs is the seat of government. Three years later, he won his state Senate seat. He served at one time on nearly every Senate committee, particularly the Legislative Audit Committee. In 1967, Hurst was elected president pro tempore of the Arkansas Senate and served as acting governor whenever Republican Governor Winthrop Rockefeller or GOP Lieutenant Governor Maurice L. "Footsie" Britt (1919-1995) were out of state at the same time.[1]
Hurst was active in the Jaycees, the Optimist International, and the Boy Scouts, having served as a scoutmaster. He was a member of the First Church of God in Hot Springs and was later the Sunday school superintendent for the Oaklawn Church of God, also in Hot Springs.[1] Hurst married Hazel Earline Barham (1918-1997). The couple had a son, Q. Byrum Hurst, Jr. (born 1949), also a Hot Springs attorney, and three daughters, Nancy Hurst Ellis (1944-1992), a Hot Springs real estate agent and civic leader,[2] Lezah H. Stenger (born c. 1947) of Springfield, Missouri, and Byretta Fish (born c. 1952) of Bentonville in Benton County in northwestern Arkansas. Hurst also had seventeen grandchildren; twenty-five great-grandchildren; a surviving brother, Francis L. Hurst (1928-2007) of Hot Springs, and surviving sister, Norma Jean Hurst Austin of San Antonio, Texas.[1]
The Hursts are interred in Block 5 of Morning Star Cemetery in Hot Springs.[1]
On February 21, 2007, Hurst was honored by an Arkansas Senate Memorial Resolution for his contributions to the state, Garland County, and Hot Springs.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Quincy Byrum "Q. Byrum" Hurst, Sr.. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on January 22, 2020.
- ↑ Nancy Hurst Ellis. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on January 22, 2020.
