Nancy “Muffin” (Hergert) Hurd, a loving mother, passed away unexpectedly, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, at Compass on the Bay Memory Care in South Boston. She was 74.
Nancy Hurd, 74, passed away Jan. 17. Her memorial is private.
Nancy lived a life complicated by her ongoing struggle with bipolar disorder and, in the last 10 years, dementia. When feeling well, she was the kindest human alive, who loved to help people.
Raised in Darien, Nancy left to attend Concord Academy in Massachusetts and then Beaver College in Pennsylvania. She settled in Boston, pursuing her creativity through work in advertising. There she met a boy, based in Los Angeles, who convinced her to join him on the West Coast. They returned to the East Coast a few years later to raise their family in Milton, Massachusetts.
Nancy re-entered the workforce in 1992, joining South Shore Mental Health in Quincy, Massachusetts, as an outreach worker. She worked tirelessly with others struggling with mental illness to help them complete their degrees and build careers.
She retired in 2009, due to her her battle with dementia. In the final decade of her life, Nancy resided at Compass on the Bay Memory Care. As one of their youngest residents, she was able to beat the others at many games, “work” the front desk, spend time drawing, painting and making jewelry, taking walks on Carson Beach for ice cream, and getting into trouble with all of her wonderful friends; especially her beloved roommate Laney.
Nancy will be remembered as a devoted mother, grandmother, and friend, a dog lover, an artist, a chocoholic, a Ralph Lauren and James Taylor devotee, and, as she liked to remind her children, a direct descendant of Thomas Dudley, a former governor of the Mass Bay Colony, and a founder of both Cambridge, Massachusetts and Harvard College.
She is survived by her four children, Lisa Hurd Walker, Tina Delawter, Bo Hurd, Brooks Hurd; their spouses; four grandchildren; and six grand-dogs.
The family is celebrating Nan’s life with a private service and donations can be made in her honor to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
— an obituary from Legacy.com, where online condolences may be left