Plan for the Future
James Edward (“Ned”) Hurley died peacefully on April 30, 2024, at Morristown Hospital in Morristown, NJ.
Born in Montclair, NJ on February 3, 1927 to the late James and Ruth Hurley, Ned attended St. Peter’s Prep and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend Indiana, where he first encountered the Holy Cross Fathers. Interrupting his studies at Notre Dame to enlist in the U.S. Army in 1945, he served in the former Yugoslavia until 1946. Ned returned to Notre Dame, completing his studies and joining the Congregation of the Holy Cross, studying for the Catholic priesthood in Washington D.C. until he left to support his father in the family lumber business in 1953. He worked in the construction lumber business for the next five decades, winning many friends among truckdrivers, foremen, union leaders, suppliers and customers in the New York area and beyond.
Ned married Ann Elizabeth Tellson of South Orange, NJ, in 1955, brought together through their families’ memberships in Baltusrol Golf Club. They raised their three children in South Orange, where they joined Orange Lawn Tennis Club, both becoming avid tennis players as Ned refused to make Ann a golf widow. He was a good athlete, sailor and swimmer, and inspired these pursuits in his children and many devoted nieces and nephews. Ann and Ned also shared a love of classical music, gardening, and the Catholic Church, and for years after they moved to Chatham Township in 1979, the display gardens at Corpus Christi Church were beneficiaries.
Ned is survived by his sister, Meg; three children, Eileen Hurley, Jim Hurley, and Elizabeth Hurley; and 13 nieces and nephews, Meghan Raynor, Chris O’Brien, Sean O’Brien, Caitlin O’Brien, Moira Hurley, Bill Hurley, Louise Hurley, Susie Hurley, Gina Cowley, Kevin Hurley, Rick Hurley, Jonathan Hurley, and Richard Oland. Ned will also be missed by his current and former neighbors, Dan and Sarah, Nisha and Gaurav, Kathleen, Maxine and Sophie, Cecille and Cole, Rowena, and Flavia. They, and good friend Shaun, made it possible for Ned to live at home until the end, and Eileen, Jim and Elizabeth are very grateful.
A Visitation will be held at the Wm. A. Bradley & Son Funeral Home, 345 Main St., Chatham, NJ on Friday, May 3, 2024 from 4:00-7:00 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Vincent Martyr Catholic Church, 26 Green Village Rd, Madison, NJ 07940 on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 10:00 am. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover, NJ.
Those who wish may contribute in Ned’s memory to Catholic Charities USA.
