COOLIDGE, Ga. — Clifton Eugene “Gene” Hurst, founder of the Hurst Boiler & Welding Co., died July 22 in Thomasville, Ga., the company announced in a press release last week. He was 79.
Describing him as an “entrepreneur, skilled engineer, and devoted family man,” the company says Hurst will be remembered for his “kindness, dedication, vision and inexhaustible will.” It adds that he not only grew Hurst Boiler into a world leader among boiler companies, he helped transform the boiler industry through innovation.
“We lost one of the greatest men to ever live, a man adored by many, a man of true character, a man that meant so much to so many,” says Chad Fletcher, Hurst’s grandson and the company’s director of aftermarket parts and sales.
Hurst started his family business in 1967 with wife Edna in a shop behind their Thomasville home. In 1970, he moved the company to its present location in Coolidge, where the company manufactures a full line of solid waste-, wood-, gas-, coal- and oil-fired steam and hot water boilers and related equipment in a 314,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
Forty-eight years later, the business remains in the family, under the direction of the Hurst children: Tommy, Hayward, Teri and Jeff. It employs more than 350 people at full production capacity.
Gene Hurst attributed his success to his faith, his family’s support, and the dedication of the Hurst Boiler team and customers, the company says.
“Anyone who knew him, in whatever capacity, would certainly agree he was a kind, humble, and inspiring individual who cared deeply for his family and the people who worked for him,” says Jeff Hurst, Gene’s youngest son and Hurst Boiler’s director of marketing.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Lives Without Limits organization, www.liveswithoutlimitsga.org.
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