Margaret E. Hurley

Obituary Margaret E. Hurley September 10, 1909 ~ August 29, 2015 Margaret (Maggie) Hurley (née Morse) was born in Winnebago, Minnesota, the youngest of eight children. The family moved to Spokane when Margaret was 2, and three years later to a farm in the Methow Valley. At the age of 13 Margaret moved back to Spokane to attend boarding school at Holy Names Academy, where she was an honor student and class president. After graduating, she attended Holy Names College (normal school), where she earned a degree in teaching. Several years later she returned for her Bachelor of Arts Degree. Upon receiving her teaching certificate, Margaret began teaching primary grades in the Spokane area, and in 1935 she married Joseph Hurley, a young lawyer who was just starting his practice in Spokane. Getting married led to a temporary halt in her teaching since, during the Depression, married women were not allowed to teach. Four years later, Margaret gave birth to a daughter, Bridget, who died in infancy. This birth was followed by the births of Patrick, John, Stephen, and Mary. In 1938 Maggie's husband decided to run for the legislature in Spokane's Third District. He was elected for two succeeding terms, after which he worked for the Office of Price Administration. In 1950 he was elected to the Legislature once again, but when he decided not to seek re-election, Maggie chose to run for the seat that he was vacating. Following a tough campaign she was elected and continued in that position for 13 terms. From 1979 to 1984 she served in the Senate. In Olympia Maggie consistently fought for a balanced budget without any new taxes, and a host of environmental causes. By the time she decided not to seek re-election, she had represented her district for 31 years. Her constituents loved her, and most of her elections were landslides. Joseph Hurley died in 1968. In 1991, Maggie married Leonard ("Pete") Peterson, and the two of them continued to pursue watercolor painting, which they had taken up a few years earlier. It turned out that Maggie had a real talent for art, and during those years she produced hundreds of beautiful watercolor paintings. By 2004, Maggie and Pete found that they could no longer keep up their home in Spokane, so they moved to the Franke Tobey Jones retirement community in Tacoma. Pete died there in 2012. Maggie died in the same home just 12 days short of reaching 106. Maggie was fully conscious, alert, and involved in current events until the very end. Maggie is survived by three children, Patrick (Coupeville, WA and San Diego, CA), John (Olympia, WA) and Mary (Freeland, WA); seven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, October 1, 2015 at 11:00am at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Tacoma. A Graveside service will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at 1:00pm at Holy Cross Cemetery in Spokane. Please leave online condolences at www.gaffneycares.com. Arrangements by Gaffney Funeral Home, 253-572-6003.