Dorothy Trostel Hurley

Dorothy Trostel Hurley July 25, 1919 – September 9, 2013 Dorothy Trostel Hurley passed away in Fort Collins on September 9, 2013 at the age of 94. Born in Caddoa, CO, Dorothy moved with her family to Fort Collins in 1929, just before her father opened the Carl Trostel Lumber Company on Linden Street. Dorothy graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1937, and in 1941 from Colorado A & M sixteen years before it became Colorado State University. Seeking greater adventure than her home town offered, Dorothy joined the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service and travelled to Bolivia as soon as civilian travel was permitted following World War II. There she met and married Nick Hurley, a mining engineer from Minnesota. Together they lived and raised their two children in mining camps around the world: in the high Andes of Bolivia, the equatorial jungle of British Guiana, a busy metropolis in Brazil, and amid the ancient copper slag heaps on the island of Cyprus. The family returned to Fort Collins in 1963, at which point swimming meets, Camp Fire Girls, school band concerts and other family activities occupied both her time and the family station wagon. Gardening was always a favorite hobby, and she loved nothing more than to spend a hot summer day out in the back yard, nurturing the plants that she, her mother, and her daughter had collected in their travels. Travel remained a top priority, whether sharing the state of Colorado with her children or flying off to visit foreign lands: Spain, Portugal, Russia, Germany, the Bahamas, England and Mexico. Throughout her life Dorothy also enjoyed sewing, drawing and painting, playing bridge, or just sitting and reading—preferably with a cat on her lap. Dorothy is survived by her son Terry and wife Patty Boehlke of Dallas, OR; her daughter Carol and husband Jim Sabey of Fort Collins; her eight grandchildren and just-shy-of-five great grandchildren. She is also survived by Charlie, the world's luckiest rags-to-riches cat, and her beloved little red car. Preceding Dorothy in death were her husband, Nick; her parents, Carl and Nettie Trostel; her sister Mary Sears and brother-in-law Robert Sears. A memorial service will be held at eleven o'clock on Thursday, September 19th at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church.