Sandra Lee Zumwalt passed away unexpectedly at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. She was 83 years old.
Sandra was born in High Hill in 1940. After high school, she was selected to attend school in Omaha, Neb. Upon graduation, the Central Intelligence Agency recruited her, where she went on to become an analyst of Eastern European activities. While in the Washington, D.C. area, in 1960, she fell in love and married the love of her life, Jimmy Glenn Hurley, who was in the United States Air Force nuclear power program.
Sandra and Jimmy had many adventures around the world, from Washington, D.C., to Sundance, Wyo.; Dayton, Ohio; Rantoul, Ill.; Clovis, N.M.; Okinawa, Japan; Oscoda, Mich.; and Grand Forks, N.D. In 1982, they retired from the Air Force to Vicksburg, Miss., with their family of five children where they lived as a loving family for 42 years.
Sandra could do anything she put her mind to. She grew up on a farm and was accustomed to hard work. She went to school in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Missouri. Sandra enjoyed gardening around her home and was an avid bowler throughout her life. She began bowling in 1960 and continued for 37 years. She became involved in competitive bowling and served in leadership roles for leagues and associations. She was elected to the Vicksburg Women’s Bowling Association Board of Directors. She was inducted into the Vicksburg Women’s Bowling Association’s Hall of Fame in the meritorious service category for her many contributions and achievements.
Sandra dedicated her life to her family and raised five children who each went on to have successful careers and families of their own. She is survived by her children: Michael Glenn Hurley (Suzanne) of Vicksburg; Steven Clark Hurley (Lisa) of Fond du Lac, Wisc.; Karen Hurley Sobczyk (Robert) of Henderson, Nev.; David Scott Hurley (Shanna) of Columbia, Md.; and Pamela Hurley Mansfield (Buzz) of Abbeville, La.; 10 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; sister, Patricia Zumwalt Cochran; and brothers Charles W. Zumwalt and Ivin Clark Zumwalt, Jr.
Sandra was preceded in death by her husband, Jimmy Glenn Hurley, of Vicksburg. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Ivin Clark Zumwalt and Margaret Sublette Zumwalt; sisters, Shirley Zumwalt Schlanker, Janice Zumwalt Knipp Weber and Donna Zumwalt Oden from Montgomery City and surrounding towns.
Visitation will be held from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. on Feb. 28 at Glenwood Funeral Home. A chapel service will immediately follow visitation. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Sandra’s memory to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
