(repost) death of DL Capt. William Leon Hurst

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Oct 26, 2025, 7:19:29 PM (6 days ago) Oct 26
to Pilot Communication Net

Belated notice….. but not forgotten….

(plz forgive my mix-up on the picture posted previously) 

~ IN MEMORY ~

DL Capt. William Leon Hurst

October 10, 1940 ~ February 15, 2022

 hurst 2022.jpg

Captain William Leon Hurst passed away February 15, 2022.  Leon was with Delta Air Lines for 38 years and was Atlanta based.  Just three months later, his wife Carolyn passed….please see information below. 

 

PCN memorial site https://pcnflightwest.blogspot.com/2025/10/dl-capt-william-leon-hurst.html

 

https://www.higginslagrangechapel.com/memorials/william-leon-hurst/4859211/

 

Obituary :  Captain William Leon Hurst, age 81, of Fairburn, made his final flight west on February 15, 2022. Leon was born on October 10, 1940 to the late William Claude Hurst and Ruby Thompson Hurst. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, William Charles Hurst and his sister, Ruby Darlene Higgins.

 

Captain Hurst lived a life that encompassed all areas of the globe. Upon graduating from Campbell High School at the age of seventeen, he moved to Miami, Florida and enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Upon graduation, he began a career with Delta Airlines that would last for over thirty eight years. He was a part of the rapid expansion of Delta and quickly advanced through the ranks in the cockpit and was fortunate to serve for over thirty years as a Captain. His first jet propelled airplane that he Captained was the DC-9, followed by the Boeing 727 and finally ending his career internationally on the Lockheed L-1011.

 

Outside of Delta Airlines, he had an enormous appetite for entrepreneurial experiences. He purchased large tracks of land in the city of Fairburn in the late 1960's, and he and his father formed Hurst Building and Development. Together, many of the subdivisions in Fairburn bear their craftmanship. With other close friends and business partners, he owned Pioneer Tractor Company and H&R Properties Real Estate in Fairburn. He was a Partner in the Western Steer Steak Houses of North Georgia and an Owner in a very large Travel Agency in Atlanta, Buckhead House of Travel. He enjoyed numerous international business opportunities and traveled extensively in his retirement years in that endeavor. He had a zest for life, and lived life to the fullest.

 

Survivors include his wife of sixty two years, Carolyn Lee Hurst; nephew and his wife, Jeff and Mary Higgins; great nephews and their wives, Jeffrey and Jamie Higgins and David and Lindsay Higgins; great great nephews and and niece, Jeffrey G. (Jay) Higgins, lll, Charlie B. Higgins, Harvey J. Higgins and Mary Margaret Higgins; other extended family.

 

A private family graveside service was held on Friday, February 18, 2022 at 3:00 pm at the Holly Hill Memorial Park in Fairburn with Dr. Oscar Cope officiating.

 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Southwest Christian Care Hospice. 7225 Lester Road, Union City, Georgia, 30291.

Higgins Funeral Home at Hunter Allen Myhand, 706-884-5626.

 

Interment Location : Holly Hill Memorial Park

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/236819359/william-leon-hurst

 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/264609350/carolyn_lee-hurst

Wife Carolyn : Carolyn Lee Miller Hurst

Birth         23 Sep 1941

Galveston, Galveston County, Texas, USA

Death        21 May 2022 (aged 80)

Georgia, USA

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