Gladys Stewart Hurd Obituary – Antioch (1922-2026)

Gladys Hurd was born on November 20, 1922, in Wagoner, Oklahoma, to Henry and Ida Stewart. She was the youngest of nine children in a close-knit farming family. Life was not easy, but it was rich in love and perseverance. As the youngest, she wore hand-me-downs from her older sister, but each year she eagerly looked forward to the first day of school. That’s when her mother would sew a brand-new dress just for her. It was a simple joy that she cherished deeply.

She often reflected on her childhood with warmth, saying she never realized they were poor because everyone around them was poor as well. In her family, everyone contributed and hard work was simply a required way of life. During the hardships of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, Gladys’s family left Oklahoma when she was 13, living for a short time in Oregon, then on to California where the family farmed and worked together in the fields picking crops, finally settling in Hanford for most of her teenage years. When World War II broke out, they moved to Calistoga and her dad worked at the Mare Island Naval Shipyards.

At Calistoga High she developed a knack for secretarial skills. When the principal’s secretary was absent, she would get called out of class for the day to take her place. When the owner of the local lumber company came to the school looking for a new secretary the principal recommended Gladys. That became her first job out of high school.

On August 29th, 1943, she married Harold Hurd in St. Helena, CA. They first lived in Oakland where Harold worked for PG&E. In 1945 a PG&E job opened in Antioch, and they relocated there and never left. She was the last living survivor of the couples who started Little League in Antioch in 1956. She and Harold were married for 69 years and upon her passing Gladys had lived in Antioch for 81 years.

With special skills in dictation, shorthand and her ability to type 110 words per minute on a manual typewriter, her career path was predetermined. She held various corporate secretarial positions, was a legal secretary and in 1969 went to work for the City of Antioch as a Stenographer Clerk II eventually becoming the Administrative Secretary to the Assistant City Manager taking on the responsibility of administering all of the personnel functions, fringe benefits, the retirement system, disability claims and the workers compensation program for the City. She retired in 1984.

After retirement she and Harold would spend the winters in Desert Hot Springs where golf became her passion. Gladys spent many years playing at Antioch’s Lone Tree Golf Course with the Ladies 9 & 18-hole groups. She won the Delta Divots Championship twice and continued playing until she was 95.

Gladys’s life was a testament to perseverance and humility and was never one to sugarcoat things that she felt needed to be said. She carried the lessons of her early formative years with her throughout her long life and remained deeply appreciative of even life’s simplest blessings.

She is survived by her sons, Mike (Lisa) and Phil (Judith), 2 grandchildren, Matt (Anna) and Chris (Courtney) and 6 great grandchildren, Brody, Bailie, Blake, Eloise, Josephine and Averyana who carry forward her legacy of resilience and determination.

At her request, services will be private.…Read more by East Bay Times