Catherine Blackledge Hurst was born July 11th, 1925, in Laurel, Mississippi to Oscar Bowen Blackledge and Mary Azalena (Lena) Walters Blackledge. She died December 8th. 2011, in Pensacola, Florida, at age eighty-six. She grew up in and around Laurel in a family of eleven children and there met her future husband, Clyde Hurst, when she was four and he was eight. They often laughed that when they first met "he didn't like her much." She graduated from Ellisville High School and attended Jones County Junior College during the war years. All of her family and friends thought, "When you are with her, you have fun." Clyde and Catherine were married when she was nineteen and he was twenty-three, in January of 1945, while he was attending Mississippi State College. Over the next eleven years they had four children: Najaria Hurst Esty (Warren), Rufus Bowen Hurst (Sandra), Pamela Hurst Boone (Matthew) and Clyde Oren Hurst, Jr. (Laurie). They lived first in Columbus, Mississippi and then in New Orleans, Louisiana while "Doc" attended Tulane University Medical School. His training took them to Tacoma, Washington and Dearborn, Michigan, before they settled in Portsmouth, Ohio where Clyde practiced medicine for thirty years. The Portsmouth years were filled with raising their family, and supporting Clyde in his practice as a pathologist at Mercy and Scioto Memorial Hospitals. "Kitty" was proud of all they achieved together and always ready to host a party to celebrate the various accomplishments of her family and friends. She was a long-time supporter of the Women's Auxiliary of Scioto Memorial Hospital and loved creating hand-made crafts to sell at fund-raisers for the group. She was an accomplished seamstress, and enjoyed making high-fashion garments and costumes for parties for all the happy occasions in her life. She later made hand-made quilts for each of her children and grandchildren--now treasured possessions. In their retirement years Catherine and Clyde moved to Gulf Breeze, Florida, where they lived from 1987 until 2009, when they moved into Azalea Trace in Pensacola, Florida. Catherine's life was filled with the love of her family, her nearly sixty-seven year marriage to Clyde, many friendships, and much laughter. She was especially beloved by her nine grandchildren: Rachel, Jared, Tracy, Sarah, Norah, Kayla, Alexander, Max, and Nathaniel and one great grandson, Bridger. She loved to travel and took them on epic trips to the beach or the mountains from the time the first was in diapers until the last grandchild started college. Catherine was preceded in death by her ten siblings and her granddaughter Kayla Nicole Hurst. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Clyde Hurst, her four children and their spouses, eight living grandchildren and one great grandson. A private family memorial service will be held at a later date. Condolences may be sent to Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel via their website: HarperMorrisMemorialChapel.com, or to Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel, 2276 Airport Blvd., Pensacola, FL 32504. In place of flowers memorials in her name may be sent to the Kayla Nicole Hurst Memorial Scholarship Fund, Licking County Foundation, P.O. Box 4212, Newark, OH 43058-4212, or The American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK, 73123; memorials to the ACS may also be called to 1-800-227-2345. HARPER-MORRIS MEMORIAL CHAPEL is in charge of arrangements.