Mustangs lose No. 1 fan

“If there was anyone that lived and breathed SMU, then it was I.T.,” J. Redwine Patterson said of his best friend Ira Talmadge Hurst.

Hurst, SMU alum class of 1948 passed away on Dec. 17, 2002.

He was born July 19, 1924 in Waco, Texas and after graduating from North Dallas High School in 1941, Hurst came to SMU.

He and Patterson were students of a different era when a person loved his university as he loved his country. For Hurst, the Mustang way was a way of life. The two men became friends while on the cheerleading squad.

Along with the Mustang Band, it was the duty of the five-man squad to be the spirit leaders of the SMU community. Everyone participated in pep rallies and bonfires, and Mustang football was the hottest ticket in town. Games were sold out regularly.

However, after World War II began, young men were drafted. By joining the Army ROTC, Hurst was able to stay at SMU for another year before going off to fight.

In New Cardonia in the South Pacific, Hurst was assigned to the Army’s field artillery. Hurst also fought in the Philippines.

Though Hurst was a patriot in his heart, he was anxious to get back home to Texas – and SMU. Patterson remembers his friend telling him he couldn’t wait to get back home to “date all them pretty SMU girls.”

Hurst returned to campus in the spring of 1949 and met his college sweetheart, Patricia Neuman. They later married and had a son, Robert.

Hurst received a marketing degree from SMU. He worked for GMAC for many years. In fact he was still working for the company at the time of his death.

Patterson and Hurst remained close friends after college and even in his final moments, Hurst told his doctor, “This is my attorney. I take him everywhere I go,” referring to Patterson.

“Now I don’t have anyone to back me up on the lies I tell about what we did in college,” Patterson joked.

He warmly remembers his friend as a man with an “indomitable soul for SMU school spirit.”

Hurst’s funeral services were held at Perkins Chapel.