Alma Lydia Renchler Hurst

Alma Lydia Renchler Hurst, 95, of Gresham, formerly of Astoria, died Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, at Chestnut Lane Assisted Living in Gresham.

She was born Aug. 19, 1914, in Hamlin, Texas, to Cora Augusta Maynard and LeRoy August Renchler. She was the oldest of five children. At the age of 4, she contracted spinal meningitis and lost her hearing.

She was raised in Emporia, Kan., where her father was an engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad. She attended deaf school in Olathe, Kan., and rode the train home for holidays and summers.

In August 1937, she married William F. Hurst in Emporia. He preceded her in death in 1990.

In 1950, the family moved to Oregon and bought a 20-acre farm in Falls City, where they lived until 1974, when they moved to Astoria. In 1990, Mrs. Hurst moved to Hillsboro. In 1993, she moved to Powell Vista Manor in Gresham. She taught American Sign Language. In 1999, she moved to Five Rivers Assisted Living in Tillamook for a few years, but missed her deaf friends in Gresham. She moved back to Gresham and into a deaf community, Chestnut Lane Assisted Living, in 2004.

Family members said she enjoyed her friends at her Jehovah's Witness congregation. She took many trips with them to conventions in Canada and California. She also went to Disneyland with friends. She loved puzzle books and baseball games.

She is survived by two sons, Hobert Neal Hurst of Hawaii and Stephen Jay Hurst of Rockaway Beach; two brothers, Fred Renchler of Topeka, Kan., and Robert Renchler of Breckenridge, Texas; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by a daughter, Gwendolyn Jane Hurst; a son, Francis Lee Hurst, in September 2006; and two sisters, one of whom was her twin.

A service and celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 20 at Caldwell's Luce-Layton Mortuary, 1165 Franklin Ave. in Astoria. Friends and family are welcome. A visit to the gravesite afterward, with flowers and memories, is planned.