Eileen Mentel Hurley

April 21, 1923 – Jan 3, 2025

Eileen M. Hurley passed away on Friday, January 3rd, in her home of 67 years, surrounded by family and caregivers. She is survived by her 3 children (William C Jr, Patricia Hurley Murr, Gregory Shawn) as well as her two daughter-in-laws, Rhonda and Pam, her son-in-law, Brahim Murr, 7 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Eileen’s life began in the Dutch East Indies, known today as Indonesia. Her father was in the Dutch Marechaussee and during WWII, was a prisoner in a Japanese war camp. Eileen, her two sisters and mother lived those 4 long years under Japanese occupation and without their father. This experience was certainly what made Eileen such a strong and trail-blazing woman.

After the war, when the Netherlands offered their citizens abroad to return home, Eileen went first with a girlfriend to Australia for a year to improve their English. Having accomplished this, Eileen returned to join her family in The Hague, The Netherlands, where she was hired by the American Embassy as a secretary to a foreign service diplomat. This job led to Eileen meeting her future husband, William C. Hurley Sr., from Newton, North Carolina, who regularly sailed to the Netherlands.

Their first encounter was a blind date which almost did not take place as it was Eileen’s father’s birthday. Somehow, Eileen was convinced to go out on that date and 6 months later, Eileen and Bill were married in The Hague. Bill was based out of New York City so, Eileen left her family and friends to live in the USA and start a family. William Jr. and Patricia were born in Dumont, NJ. Two years later the Hurley family moved to the Netherlands where they spent several years.

The Florida experience happened in 1958, when Bill took a job in Jacksonville, and moved the family there. Their third child, Shawn, was born shortly thereafter. Eileen soon became an American citizen and began integrating in the Jacksonville scene, making friends, becoming part of a Dutch friends community, enjoying the Florida beaches and watching Jacksonville grow and develop.

Bill and Eileen traveled often, around the globe and within the US. They were Jacksonville Symphony ticket holders for many years, were members of the Alliance Francaise of Jacksonville, and the Morocco Temple. Eileen was also a member of Ladies Propeller Club.

Eileen loved her life in Jacksonville and made sure that her children were brought up knowing their Dutch-Indonesian heritage, participating in sports activities and learning music. She and Bill loved to entertain cooking Indonesian dishes for family and friends. They loved to snow ski and travel, making annual trips to Europe to visit the family as well as trips to China, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. When in Jacksonville, Bill and Eileen followed non-credit courses at FCCJ, took line-dancing classes, went to water aerobics at UNF and of course, spent as much time as possible with their family.

The family will be honoring Eileen’s life in a private ceremony as requested.

“In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Eileen’s name may be made to The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care, 4266 Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, FL 32257, or give online

at thefoundationcares.org/give.”