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Wilburn “Bill” F. Hurlbert, 82, of Mahomet (formerly of Keokuk, Iowa), died on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, at OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, Urbana, after a hard seven-month battle with cancer.
There will be services in both Keokuk, Iowa, and Mahomet. The first visitation will be on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, from noon to 1 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church, 1028 Exchange St., Keokuk, IA. The funeral service will immediately follow at 1. The second visitation will be on Friday, Aug. 21, at Blair-Owens Funeral Home, 102 E. Dunbar, Mahomet, from 1 to 2 p.m. The funeral service will begin at 2. Masks and social distancing will be required. Both services will be officiated by Pastor John Heath of Calvary Baptist, whom Bill loved and adored. Bill will be laid to rest at Riverside Cemetery, Mahomet.
“Bill Boy” was born on Oct. 21, 1937, in Keokuk, Iowa, to Wilbern and Laura (Atkins) Hurlbert. He attended Keokuk schools. Bill honorably served in the U.S. Army for four years. Upon discharge, Bill worked at Dryden Rubber for 13 years. During that time he married Joann Huston in 1961. Later he married Helen Smalley in 1964 and together they celebrated 40 years of marriage until she passed in 2004.
Bill and Helen moved to Mahomet in 1972 to join his brother, Jim, in the siding and window business. Faith was very important to Bill and he attended Calvary Baptist Church in Urbana while he was living in Illinois. In 2004, after Helen passed, Bill moved back to Keokuk and began working at Wal-Mart, where he started as a greeter. He eventually reconnected with Joann and they have been together for the last 16 years.
Bill leaves behind a daughter, Shari (Allen) Harrington of Cisco and her four children; a son, Bobby Page and daughter, Patty Hymes; along with numerous grandchildren in Keokuk, Iowa; and a brother, Jim (Pam) Hurlbert and their son, Jake and family, all of Mahomet, and their daughters, Jamie and Michelle and their families, all of Phoenix, Ariz.
Bill was a very hard worker and loved bowling. He once bowled three 300 games in a seven-day period at three different bowling alleys and was subbing at all three with no practice balls. He had never bowled a 300 game prior to this and there’s no record of anyone doing the same. To our knowledge, this feat has never been matched.
To know Bill was to love him. If you didn’t love him, you just didn’t know him. He loved life and helped anyone anytime. He enjoyed dancing and being around his family and friends. He’ll always be with us, just not physically. He’s in a better place now ... God love him.
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