Carol Rhoda Hurley, an Advocate for Seniors

Carol Rhoda Reynolds Hurley, an indomitable advocate for seniors in Pacific Palisades, passed away on May 12.
Carol was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut, and attended Katharine Gibbs School in New York City. She was secretary to the sales manager of Yale & Towne Hardware (remember Yale locks?) and then worked for a New Canaan law firm for three years before heading to Ohio Wesleyan University as assistant to the chaplain.
A few years later, Carol returned to become the PR director of The Interfaith Center at 120th St. and Riverside Drive in New York City, which housed the National Council of Churches and several other church agencies. She organized over 300 church women as hostesses for the Center, which had up to 30,000 visitors per year.
In 1963, she became editor at a book exhibit company–it was the right move because at her first book exhibit in Atlantic City, she met and fell in love with the man she’d been waiting for. In marrying Ed Hurley three months later, Carol gained three grown children and moved to Chicago. She served as executive secretary of the Association of Rehabilitation Centers for several years. Ed was marketing director for Britannica Encyclopedia and was transferred to the West Coast on special assignment in 1969. Carol said she “lucked in” when she found a home in Pacific Palisades on upper Monument Street, with a sweeping view of Santa Monica Bay and Catalina Island.
She and Ed traveled widely, including sailing in the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, Penobscot Bay and the Sea of Cortez, hot-air ballooning over Burgundy, France, and visiting Russia, Siberia, Outer Mongolia, Japan, Europe and Mexico.
Carol said that her earliest memory was being in kindergarten at the First Methodist Church in Stamford, and some of her happiest memories were the years she was active in the Methodist Youth Fellowship. She was grateful for both fine parental upbringing and strong church-related activities.
Her interest in seniors stemmed from two wonderful grandmothers who both lived well into their 80’s. Her close friend in the Palisades, Margaret Jones Kanaar, lived into her 90’s, and Carol helped continue her work via the Jones Kanaar Foundation and its support for the Center for Cerebral Palsy at UCLA.
Carol also helped Jones, on the occasion of her 90th birthday, honor other 90-year-olds in the Palisades. This celebration has become an annual event hosted by the Woman’s Club in June.
In addition, Carol played a key role as one of the founders and behind-the-scenes leaders of the AARP chapter in Pacific Palisades, and worked hard to bring about affordable senior transportation and a senior center in town. In 2004, in recognition of these efforts, she received a Community Service Award from the Community Council and rode in the Fourth of July parade.
Carol is survived by her devoted companion, Larry Eccles; cousin John Archibald; nephew William Reynolds; niece Nancy Reynolds and her partner Horst Hartlieb; “bonus” children Joan Yosenick (husband Peter), Edward Hurley (wife Priscilla) and Peter Hurley; grandchildren Brad, Sally, Jennifer, Thomas and Timothy; seven great-grandchildren; the Farkle girls, and many dear friends. She was predeceased by her husband Edward, and brother Walter.
A memorial service will be held Tuesday, May 21, at 2 p.m. at the Community United Methodist Church, 801 Via de la Paz.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Community United Methodist Church or the Jones Kanaar Foundation.