August 9, 1930 - March 31, 2025
Junior Hurlburt, 94 of Lone Rock, passed away Monday, March 31, 2025, at the Kossuth Regional Health Center in Algona at the age of 94. Memorial services were held on Monday, April 7 at 10:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Fenton. Services were live streamed via Lentz Funeral Home’s website https://www.hdezwebcast.com/show/junior-hurlburt and could also be listened to by telephone at 515-889-9595. Inurnment with military honors took place at Fenton Township Cemetery in rural Lone Rock. Memorial visitation was on Sunday, April 6 from 4 until 6 p.m. at the Fenton American Legion in Fenton. Services have been entrusted to Lentz Funeral Home of Algona. Online condolences may be left at www.lentzfuneralhome.com.
Born on Aug. 9, 1930, in Titonka, he grew up in Lone Rock. He was the son of Emma (Rath) and Ralph Hurlburt and was the oldest of five children.
He attended Lone Rock school and married Elnora Schadendorf on Dec. 27, 1954. After two years in the Army, they returned to Lone Rock and began farming, trucking and raising a family. While Junior loved farming, his biggest love was baling hay, which he started as a young teen while traveling to North Dakota.
Junior and Elnora were members at Fenton United Methodist Church where he served as a youth group leader. He was also active in the community with groups such as 4-H, Boy Scouts, Farm Bureau and the Kossuth County Zoning Development Board.
Junior was very proud of being a Lone Rocker and was involved with community events such as the moving of the “rock” in 1970, the Jubilee and the Centennial. He loved helping at any town celebration such as the 4th of July or Pancake Day at the American Legion.
As a member of the American Legion he participated in the annual Memorial Day service, always hoping he could still fit into his uniform.
He and Elnora loved to travel and entertain. Over the years, they had house guests from Sweden, Germany, Australia and multiple states. They made memories together when they took cruises and traveled to far-away places such as Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and Alaska. He and Elnora also hosted a foreign exchange student, Ulf Goransson, from Sweden in 1978-79.
They enjoyed camping at Dawson’s Campground with their RV and spent their winters in Arizona where Junior enjoyed rattlesnake hunting, flea markets and even skydiving. Priority was placed with spending time with family and friends who stopped in to visit.
Junior is survived by his four children: Randy (Corinne) of Fenton, David (Linda) Lone Rock, Audrey Thomas (Tony) of Bloomington, Minn. and Penny Rahm (Nick) of Lone Rock, in addition to 10 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and his sister Rachael (Keith) Nilsen (Monroe, Ga). Junior was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, his parents, two sisters, one brother and one great-grandson.