Ralph Ashby Hurley, 85, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, passed away at 9:21 P.M. Sunday, February 13, 2011, at Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefontaine. He was born in Bellefontaine April 9, 1925, to the late Luther L. and Rosa Helen (Metcalf) Hurley. He also was preceded in death by two brothers, Luther Hurley Jr. and Owen Maxwell Hurley; and two sisters, Betty Hurley who died in infancy, and Esther Eloise Brunson. 

On June 12, 1974, he married the former Audrey LaDonna Neer in Bellefontaine and she survives along with a brother, Charles Hurley of Bellefontaine; sisters, Ruth Avis Idle of Marysville, Ohio, and Janet Pauline Henman of Springfield, Ohio, and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was a United States Army Air Corp Veteran after serving during World War II, where he received a certificate of Special Congressional recognition of exemplary military service during the Battle of Normandy, June 6, 1944 � August 31, 1944 presented by Congress. He was also a member of the Gretna Brethren Church since 1940, secretary/treasurer of the Bellefontaine Council # 508 since 1990, a lifetime member of the Bellefontaine American Legion and the VFW. A member of the Harrison Grange, he also volunteered for the American Red Cross since 1990 in Logan County, a member of the United Commercial Travelers of America since 1962, and was a 1943 graduate of DeGraff High School. He was also a Grand Counselor of Ohio in 2003, and treasurer for the Weekly Religious Education of Logan County for eleven years and served on the board since that time. He was formerly employed for five years at the Knowlton Box Factory and for thirty two years at Rockwell in Bellefontaine, retiring in 1983. He also retired from Siemens in May of 1990 after seven years.

Pastors Larry Brown and Rob Fulton will conduct the funeral service at 1:00 P.M. Thursday, February 17, 2011, at the Eichholtz Funeral Home in Bellefontaine. Calling hours are Wednesday, February 16, 2011, from 2 to 4 P.M. and 6 to 8 P.M. at the funeral home. Interment will follow the funeral service in the Greenwood-Union Cemetery in DeGraff, Ohio.

Memorial contributions may be made to: Gretna Brethren Church  1564 Township Road 46 S  Bellefontaine, OH 43311