David Hurst (SH 60-65). The following has been supplied by Ivan Jones (FN 60-64) in collaboration with David’s wife.
David died in July 2017 following a short battle with cancer. He was a contemporary at school with Ivan Jones (FN 60-64), who reports that David had been his best man at his wedding in 1966. David was a keen rugby player eventually playing for the 1st XV in his final year. George Gibson (FS 59-64) recalls that while at school both he and David were co-opted to play for the Old Boys XV on a Scottish tour: ‘I had my first real introduction to beer on that trip, although David was far more restrained than I. I also remember him being part of a School House posse to hinder me in the 880m final when they were trying to help Nigel Boucher, who needed no help, win the race. They succeeded while I got hemmed in and spiked’.	David Hurst and wife, Sue
When David left school he followed in his father’s footsteps, joining Barclays Bank in Newcastle. He married his wife Sue in 1967. Soon afterwards with a baby in tow, they emigrated to Australia under the then GBP10 plan where David joined the Bank of New South Wales (Later Westpac Bank) in Sydney. Later David left Westpac to join an international commercial bank in Melbourne. During this time he became a dedicated Christian and found his passion for Jesus was all-consuming. This was to have a profound impact on his and his family’s future. David resigned his position in the bank and entered Melbourne University intending to study medicine. He had studied languages at St Bees. Now he had to become a scientist. As a bridge he studied computing and realised he rather liked the switch. Within a year he was head hunted by IBM with whom he worked for a number of years. In 1978 the family returned to the UK where he continued his new career with IBM. Later, upon leaving IBM, he and two others set up a software house in London. During this time he and Sue continued to expand and nurture their faith. David got involved in youth work in Hertford. He always believed that God guided him in everything. On a holiday to Scotland he felt the need to leave London, and to set up his own company in the Borders, which would give him more time to do the Lord’s work. Sue says he was most proud of being brought in as project manager for the London Congestion Charge project after it was realised it was running behind schedule.  Now being his own boss, he was able to travel to Poland several times prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall conducting open baptisms as well as preaching and delivering humanitarian aid. He also visited northern Burma, teaching the Bible, and Sri Lanka, speaking to new Christian Tamil Tigers. He used his business knowledge to advance his Christian work such as building a new church using volunteer workmen many of whom were ex-offenders. During this time he developed a software tool that could help spread the word of God all over the world: ‘Best News’ was born.  David wrote about 130 studies, some of which can be found on joyforlife.org which is run by Sue. He still found time to indulge in his hobbies of photography, painting and gardening. At the beginning of last year he and Sue had a holiday in Australia visiting two of their daughters.
He certainly had a very exciting and fruitful life, cut short too early. My wife and I spent an afternoon with David and Sue at the end of last April. He was in fine form and we talked not only about his faith but also about his genuine pride in having been at St Bees. In June he complained of severe pain which everyone thought was a kidney stone. It was cancer. Within three weeks he passed away ‘happy to be joining Jesus but sad for all of us’. He was a dedicated Christian who truly tried to live his life following the word of God David is survived by his wife Sue, three daughters, one son and ten grandchildren.
	David Hurst and Ivan Jones

 

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The St Beghian Society    
St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

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