Born in St. Albans Vermont in 1949, he graduated from Bellows Free Academy in 1967 and was appointed to and attended the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, transferring to the University of Vermont where he earned a BSc in mechanical engineering in 1972. He was a licensed professional engineer (P.Eng.) with an MSc in Ocean Engineering from the University of Rhode Island (1978) where he was a research associate for two years. He moved to Nova Scotia in 1980, attracted by Canada’s social and political climate, and has lived there since with his spouse of 32 years, Kate Moran.
From 1983 to 1997, he served as president and then as an associate of ASA Consulting Ltd. of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and from 1997 to 2006 as a senior engineer with Coastal Ocean Associates Inc., which was acquired by AMEC Earth & Environmental in 2006. At the time of his death, he was a Senior Associate Engineer with AMEC, an international engineering and consulting firm.
As an ocean engineer he worked on projects ranging from oceanographic processes, coastal engineering, and the impact of accidental and routine marine discharge on near shore and offshore water quality. Most recently, his worked focused on the assessment of water quality in Halifax Harbour. He served as an expert on panels reviewing the Confederation Bridge, the Voisey Bay Nickel Development, and the Annapolis Basin Coastal Zone Project.
Steve loved dogs and was known for his canine training abilities. He was an enthusiastic outdoorsman whose interests included canoeing, hiking, backcountry skiing, and gardening. He loved to tell stories, and was always the last one to leave a party.
He competed at high levels as a champion athlete, in running races and triathlons and was twice selected to represent Canada in his age group at the World Triathlon Championships. He competed in Olympic distance. He most recently competed in the 2009 Shubie Sprint Triathlon in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Steve was a member of the Dartmouth Whalers Swim Club and served as the registrar for 19 years.
Steve’s friends and colleagues valued him for his patience, reasonableness, kindness and generosity, qualities that made him a master organizer of events, including the weekend long team running race around the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton.
He was predeceased by his father, Leonard Hurlbut and mother, Hilda Goodhue Kelley. He will be lovingly remembered and sorely missed by his spouse, Kate Moran, Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Rhode Island currently on leave serving in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, his stepfather Lee Kelley of St. Albans, Vermont, brother Timothy G. Hurlbut, Esq. and his wife Kelly of St. Albans, Vermont, nieces Desiree Hurlbut and Jamie Munkatchy, and nephews Kyle Taylor and Jason Munkatchy, sisters- and brothers-in law, Molly Munkatchy, Patricia Moran, Stephen Silverman, and Thomas Moran, and his dog, Lucy.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by A.L. Mattatall Funeral Home (www.mattatallfuneralhome.com). A celebration of Steve’s life will be held at the Oakwood House in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, from 11-2 PM on Saturday, October 16th.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18