Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 17, 1992 TAG: 9202170064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: FERRUM LENGTH: Medium
OBIT HURT, F.
HURT, FRANK B.Frank Benjamin Hurt of Ferrum, Virginia, educator, professor emeritus of two colleges, author, historian, and scholar died at his home February 16, 1992 following a short illness. Born in 1899 in Ferrum, the son of John Kemper and Lelia Angle Hurt, Frank B. Hurt began his formal education at Ferrum Training School from which he graduated in the first graduating class of 1919. He began his undergraduate education at Randolph Macon College, and received his B.A. degree from Washington and Lee University in 1923. He received an M.A. degree (Economics) from the University of Virginia, and a second M.A. degree (History) from Princeton University. Professor Hurt did doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University and attended Harvard University during summer sessions. In 1927 he returned to Ferrum Training School as an instructor. He received an appointment as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Western Maryland College in 1930, and in 1947, was promoted to Associate Professor and head of the Department of Political Science. He married Mary Ann Wescott of Nassawadox, Virginia in 1943. In 1965, after 35 years at Western Maryland College, Professor Hurt retired and was subsequently made Professor Emeritus of Western Maryland College. He and Mrs. Hurt returned to Ferrum to live on the Hurt Family property. In 1965 he accepted an appointment as Professor of History and head of the Division of Social Science at Ferrum College. When he retired from teaching at Ferrum College in 1970 he was made Professor Emeritus. Throughout his professional career he was a member of many professional societies and associations and is listed in numerous publications including Who's Who in America. He was honored by Western Maryland College by being elected to the Western Maryland Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his 35 years as volunteer tennis coach; by Ferrum College as a Distinguished Alumnus; and received the Benjamin Moore Beckham Medallion in 1978. In 1982, Professor Hurt received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Ferrum College in recognition of his service to education and his community. The Alumni Association commissioned a formal portrait of Professor Hurt which was presented to the College in 1991. The Board of Trustees of Ferrum College commissioned him to write a history of the College and in 1977, "A History of Ferrum College-An Uncommon Challenge 1914-1974", was published as the first official history of the College. With the proceeds from the book, he and Mrs. Hurt established a student scholarship fund at Ferrum in memory of his parents. He published several other monographs dealing with the history of the foothills of the Blue Ridge and its people. He was active in many civic affairs: past chairman of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Ferrum; active past president of the Franklin County Historical Society; member of the Lions Club of Ferrum and the 50 Year Club of the Alumni Association of Ferrum College. He was a trustee of Ferrum College at the time of his death and a member and former trustee of St. James United Methodist Church of Ferrum. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, of the home; his sister, Mary Hurt Whitehead, of Ferrum; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins. A funeral service will be held in Vaughn Chapel on the Ferrum College campus at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 18, 1992. Interment will follow in the High Street Cemetery in Rocky Mount, Virginia. The Reverends James Shank Angle, Pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Ferrum, and John Patrick Colatch, Chaplain of Ferrum College, will officiate. Lynch Funeral Home of Rocky Mount, Virginia, is in charge of arrangements. Family members will be at Vaughn Chapel from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Monday evening to receive friends. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society, Franklin County Unit, P.O. Box 554, Roanoke, Virginia, 24002.