Gay Hurtado

Gay Hurtado formerly of Dos Cabezas passed away in Jonesville, Louisiana on November 25, 2020 at the age of 78. A Celebration of Life will be held on noon on Saturday, December 4, 2021 at Westlawn Chapel. Topic: Gay Hurtado Celebration of Life Time: Dec 4, 2021 11:45 AM Arizona Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3043585549?pwd=Q3RtTGxvOUIybmM0ZWtsZ2owVDBYUT09 Meeting ID: 304 358 5549 Passcode: 5ptZJT Judith Gay Hurtado—who went by her middle name Gay—was born in Willcox, Arizona on October 24th, 1942. She spent part of her childhood with her parents and siblings in Willcox, but most of her childhood and formative years were spent living with her paternal grandparents Florencio "Big Daddy" & Trinidad "Muddy" Hurtado, on the Hurtado Ranch in Dos Cabezas. Gay was an adventurer with a wild heart and a free, wandering spirit. As a young woman she left Arizona and was drawn to the West Coast, where she lived for many years in various parts of California (Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Santa Cruz, South Lake Tahoe) and the Pacific Northwest (Seaside, Oregon; Seattle + Tacoma + Port Townsend, Washington); and later in life she also spent several years in Colorado and Louisiana. To those of us who knew her best, those places where she lived reflected her character: curious, passionate, fun, amusing, interesting, artistic, cultured, unconventional, rugged, outgoing, Bohemian, in love with nature, occasionally glamorous, and always difficult to box into a single category. Gay's spontaneous and offbeat side often meant that when we, her children, were growing up with her, we were often uncertain about what adventure she would have in store for us next… but this was also one of our favorite qualities about her. Some days, before dawn, she would hustle us into her car and we would wake up at sunrise on a beach in Malibu, or at the Hurtado Ranch in Dos Cabezas, where we would arrive in time for morning coffee with her beloved grandmother, Muddy. On other road trips we would sleep beneath the stars: no camping gear would be packed other than a few sleeping bags, but there was plenty of natural beauty to be experienced while roughing it. She would take us to eat street food outside Spanish Catholic missions in Tucson to support the women cooking out front while admiring one of her favorite styles of architecture. We would speed down a desert highway in whatever was her most recently acquired “beater” car, singing our hearts out to old soul music on the radio; as small children, sometimes one of us would be sitting in her lap so she could teach us how to steer a car as she expressed her deep love for the desert. Gay had many remarkable qualities; she was a glorious cook and baker, she could create outfits for herself solely with raw fabric and a sewing machine, she was an inspired home-decorator, she drove cars with the skill & aggressive daring of a stunt driver, she could type about 90 words per minute, and she could make friends & family & strangers laugh with her remarkable wit and comic timing. She had an incredible sense of humor; we loved that her cackling laughter was sometimes so intense that she'd cross her legs to keep from peeing herself. Her endearingly, lovably unconventional character persists in the millions of memories we have: how she would sip from a bottle of beer and snack on canned sardines with habañero peppers while quietly flipping through a Vogue magazine; how she would take us to indie foreign films when we were barely old enough to read subtitles; how as teens she would pick us up from anywhere in town, regardless of how late at night we were calling; how she would buy coconut lattes for us and then take us sailing in Puget Sound; how she would organize entertainingly dramatic events (such as hiring a mariachi band to play for an intimate dinner party in her shabby-chic, perfectly cozy & welcoming little yard); how her green thumb and her semi-fearlessness resulted in her occasionally pulling bandito rose heists at midnight in the church gardens of L.A.; how her sense of personal style was unique yet impeccable; how she'd sometimes complete the New York Times' Sunday crossword puzzle (no mean feat) while taking peaceful drags from a joint. Gay passed away in her sleep at age 78 on November 25th, 2020, in her bedroom in Jonesville, Louisiana. The clearest, strongest, most enduring memories that Gay embedded in our hearts were her fierce love for us, her indestructable belief in us, and her profound drive to make for us and herself a life both meaningful and well-lived, regardless of the circumstances. We hope she felt and understood the fierce, protective, loyal love that we felt for her in return. Rest in peace, Mama. We miss you, very deeply.

Gay Hurtado

October 24, 1942 - November 25, 2020