Obituary of Cornelius S. Hurlbut IV

Cornelius Searle Hurlbut IV September 9, 1934-November 27, 2019 Cornelius Searle "Neil" Hurlbut, the first child of Cornelius Searle Hurlbut III and Anna Thompson Dawson Hurlbut, was born in Dayton, Ohio on September 9, 1934. Neil grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, attended Belmont Hill School '52 and received his BA in History from Amherst College in 1956. Following his graduation, he served for 3 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy. While in the Navy, Neil and his then wife, Liz, had two children, Chris and Hope. Shortly after his discharge from the Navy, Neil joined Travelers Insurance Company where he rose quickly through the management ranks. Neil retired from Travelers in 1988. Throughout his life, Neil established himself as an exceptionally talented athlete, especially in tennis. In high school, he starred on the football, basketball and tennis teams and he captained the tennis team while at Amherst. Through the years he played all over the US, and traveled to Australia, Turkey and Croatia to play in World Cup tournaments. In 2011, as the youngest of the super seniors, Neil won gold in both singles and doubles in California. He was ranked the No 1 amateur in the US and No. 5 in the world for players older than 75. He continued to win national honors in singles and doubles and on his 80th birthday was still playing national tournaments. Recently, the main court at the Tucson Racquet Club was dedicated to him and a plaque was installed designating the court as "Neil's Court." Neil spent 23 of the last 28 years living in Tucson, Arizona, where he and his now deceased wife, Barbara, made a life for themselves playing tennis, traveling throughout the world and enjoying family and friends. In 2015, Neil met Natalie Ashburn and the two have been essentially inseparable ever since. In recent years they traveled to Denmark, Norway, Scotland, the UK and this past year they took a cruise through the Panama Canal. Neil Hurlbut passed away on November 27, 2019 from complications associated with mesothelioma. He was active and vital up until the last few weeks of his life and he died peacefully in his sleep in the early morning. He is survived by Natalie Ashburn, his two daughters, Chris Hurlbut (Ann) of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Hope Hurlbut Booth (Scott) of Louisville, Kentucky, as well as his two granddaughters, Sophie and Nikki, his younger sister, Patty Hurlbut Williams of Burlington Vermont, and his younger brother, Marc Hurlbut (Pat) of San Clemente, California and New Harbor, Maine and nieces and nephews Laura, Marc, Matt and Kate. A memorial service will be held sometime after the first of the year. Donations in Neil's name should be made to Tucson Community Tennis Program at http://www.tctpforkids.org