Margaret Hurst, 82, of  Indianapolis, Indiana, passed away 21 April 2024. She was a retired missionary who served in South Africa and the Philippines. She also served as a minister in Indiana.

Margaret Potter Hurst was born on 1 February 1942 in La Farge, Wisconsin, the fifth of eight children. Sensing a call to missions, she attended Free Methodist Bible College and then completed a three-year program at Bethany Missionary Training College. Following her education, she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, to live with a sister, where she met her husband, George. They married in 1964.

Together, they attended further missionary training and then pastored a church in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, while they applied to the Church of the Nazarene for an overseas mission assignment.

In 1974, they moved to the Republic of South Africa. They learned the Zulu language and served in training local pastors, church building construction, and college teaching. She miraculously survived a devastating car accident in 1976, though she and George sadly lost their infant son in that accident.

In 1995, they left Africa to serve briefly in Manilla, Philippines, and then returned to the United States in 1996, settling in Indianapolis.

Margaret worked at Light and Life Bookstore and served as a Sunday school teacher, church treasurer, and NMI president. She completed her studies for ordination and was ordained as an elder in the Church of the Nazarene in 2004.

Outside of work and after retirement, Margaret enjoyed reading, coloring, sudoku, word puzzles, and chatting with her siblings online. She loved visits from her daughters and their husbands, and especially her grandchildren. Throughout her life, she strove to make others feel welcomed and comfortable and ministered to those around her in any situation.

Margaret is survived by her husband of 60 years, George A. Hurst; daughters Rebecca Schnurr and Christina Miller; sisters Ona Madden, Leota Chadwick, Helen Ewing, and Rozella Spry; brother Harvey Potter; one grandson and one daughter; as well as many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

She is preceded in death by her father, Stanley Potter; mother, Una Potter; sister, Mary Fish; brother, Joe Potter; and infant son, Matthew A. Hurst.