The Municipality of Cumberland is mourning the passing of former warden and county councillor Gardner ‘Bud’ Hurley.
Hurley died Sunday, March 5, at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre. He was 90 years old.
All flags at municipal facilities across the Municipality of Cumberland have been lowered to half-staff in his honour.
“On behalf of the council, our staff and the people of Cumberland County we want to pass on our condolences to Bud’s family,” Municipality of Cumberland Mayor Murray Scott said. “Bud was a member of the legislature and was a former warden and county councillor. Throughout his public life he provided invaluable service to the people of his community and Cumberland County.
“We will be forever grateful for Bud’s contributions to the municipality and the province.”
Born in Maccan, Hurley joined the RCAF as an electronic technician and served 10 years in Canada and France.
He later worked as a technical representative with Philco Corp of Canada and also with Canadian General Electric’s transformer division and Bennett and Wright Contractors in Kitchener, Ont. He also taught electronics for the Kitchener-Waterloo school board before returning to Maccan in 1969 to work at the Maccan generating station, retiring in 1991 after 22 years.
Hurley worked tirelessly for Maccan and was involved in many projects including the ballfields, community centre, Royal Canadian Legion, sewer system, cenotaph and streetlights.
He was also a strong supporter of the Maccan Tidal View Park and spent hours promoting Nova Scotia by talking to tourists. Hurley was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed hunting and sports.
He was a member and past Master of King Edward Masonic Lodge AFAM#86 of River Hebert. He was a former member and past president of Branch 134 Royal Canadian Legion, Maccan.
Hurley served as a municipal councillor and was warden for a period in the early 1980s before moving on to provincial politics. He succeeded George Henley as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Cumberland West, being elected in the 1984 provincial election and remaining in office until 1988.
The funeral service will be held at Campbell’s Funeral Home, Amherst, on Friday, March 10, 2023, at 2 p.m. with William Drysdale, DLM officiating.
Hurley will be laid to rest beside his late wife, Phyllis, in the Maccan Cemetery at a later date.
Memorial contributions in Gardner’s memory may be made to the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre Foundation or a charity of your choice.
Online condolences and sharing of memories can be forwarded to the family via: www.campbellsamherst.ca or by visiting the funeral home Facebook page.
For the full obituary, go to In Loving Memory of Gardner Payne “Bud” Hurley.