Richard Francis Hurst

Richard Francis Hurst of Vero Beach, Florida passed away on July 2, 2015. He was a graduate of Malvern Prep School in Malvern, Pennsylvania and he later attended Villanova. Richard was a member of ISPE since 1964 and the Vero Beach Yacht Club. He was a consummate boat captain and fisherman for many years.

Richard was an excellent navigator of life. He was a test driver for GM as a young man. He was known to race on Woodward Ave. in Detroit on Saturday nights in the 60’s. Richard loved cars and appreciated their beauty, design and performance, particularly the Corvette. In addition to several Corvettes, he had owned a BMW, Cadillacs, Buicks, Fords, Genesis, Lexus, Volvos and others. In Europe he drove Peugeots, Renaults, and a favorite, the Deux Chevaux. If he was traveling as the president of Hurst Corp. he always rented the biggest, blackest Mercedes so he “would command respect and could sleep in it if necessary!”

Richard raised six children at a farmhouse and later at the family home in Devon, Pennsylvania, all while running a business—a self-described “kitchen inventor.” He felt creative ideas were God-given and he remained a humble man about his accomplishments.

He was an inventor, entrepreneur and proprietary designer with numerous patents. He maintained a sense of wonder throughout his life. Family member Joe MacLellan said, “Richard made the incredible normal and the normal incredible.”

He never stopped creating and never stopped learning. Reading was good but he preferred doing.

Richard was a world traveler, explorer and adventurer the old-fashioned way. Within months he once traveled with close friend Jack Downs from Winnipeg, Canada where it was wind-chill -100 degrees to Dubai, United Arab Emirates where it was +100 degrees. He had close friends in France, Belgium, Ireland, Peru, Ecuador, and all over the U.S.

He loved to play the piano for friends and always had a piano at home. He and wife Cynthia enjoyed a little “drinking bourbon and playing gin.” He knew wines and champagnes and ports and liquors and was delighted to discover a winery in Napa called Truett-Hurst.

A spiritual man, he had a great devotion to Mary, a personal relationship with his God, a love for his fellow man, and respect for all faiths.

Known as a philosopher, poet, writer, story teller, philanthropist and friend, he will be missed by many.

Richard is preceded in death by his father, Russel Hurst; son, Russel Wayne Hurst; sisters, Josephine Hurst and Peggy McShea; and brother, Robert Hurst.

Surviving to cherish his memory are wife of 17 years, Cynthia Mary (Boyce) Hurst; daughters, Andrena (William) Leahey, Alexandra (Joseph) Brenner; sons, Eric (Lynn), Timothy (Judy) and Benjamin Maxwell (Tracie); stepsons Brian and Sean Stead; fifteen grandchildren and numerous brothers- and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday at 11:00 am at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 955 Alton Rd., East Lansing, Michigan. The family will receive friends on Wednesday at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes East Lansing Chapel, 1730 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing, Michigan, from 5-8 pm and one hour prior to the service.

The whole trick is to keep adapting. Continuing new plans to cope with what life throws your way. The PLAN is the dignity of a person. No road map and we are lost. It has been a happy day. I was thinking the road map of life has to be spiritual to be meaningful. Good comes from good as you say. The hopefulness of spirituality is amazing. –Richard in a recent text to son Max

History of Hurst Corporation

Founded in 1963, HURST CORPORATION (aka R.F. Hurst & Associates, Inc.) is a Pennsylvania Corporation specializing in custom designed and manufactured machinery and hardware for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Known worldwide for LabelStripper label removing machines, HURST has had over 500 machine installations in 10 countries. Customers include Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Catalent, Hospira, Merck, Pfizer and many others.

HURST is a national leader in the creative design and manufacture of stainless steel depyrogenation, autoclave, incubation and lyophilization vial trays. HURST patented polycarbonate vial tray and cart systems provide a full range of equipment and accessories for economical vial storage and transport.

HURST has a forty plus year track record in developing leading edge technology with over twenty issues patents in the USA and Great Britain. Patents include developments in microfiltration, tablet comminution, high speed tray loading, tray unloading, label delaminating, rotary capping and traying systems. HURST’S current project is a unique system for horizontal syringe storage.

HURST’S licensed manufacturing partnerships combine HURST creative design and engineering with state-of-the-art production facilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan with corporate offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida.

Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.greastlansing.com