Stewart Minor Hurtt, who practiced law in Prince George’s County for more than four decades, died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on Sept. 12 at Transitions LifeCare in Raleigh, North Carolina. The former Eastern Shore resident was 81.
“Stewart was the consummate lawyer who developed an expertise in real estate law and whose advice was widely sought after,” said Judge C. Philip Nichols Jr., who retired in 2017 as chief judge of the Prince George’s Circuit Court and was Mr. Hurtt’s former longtime law partner.
“He was extremely bright, friendly, and someone you could always count on,” Judge Nichols said. “I looked up to him as a law partner, and I still look up to him now.”
Stewart Minor Hurtt, son of Charles Dunton Hurtt Jr., a bank manager, and Louise Trail Woodward Hurtt, a homemaker, was born and raised in Laurel, the younger of two sons.
“He was from a very prominent family in Laurel and, as a teenager, was an Eagle Scout,” Judge Nichols said.
After graduating in 1961 from Laurel High School, Mr. Hurtt began his college studies at Washington & Lee University, where he was a member of the ROTC and house manager of the Sigma Nu fraternity.
In 1965, he earned a bachelor’s degree in contemporary civilizations and then served with the Army Military Police in Paris, France, until being discharged in 1966.
He remained an Army reservist and obtained the rank of captain before being discharged in 1975.
Mr. Hurtt then returned to Washington & Lee, where he obtained his law degree in 1972 and passed both the Maryland and Washington bar that year.
In 1972, he and Judge Nichols established Nichols & Hurtt, and the two men practiced together until Judge Nichols went to the bench.
In the early days of his practice, Mr. Hurtt focused on family law before moving into real estate settlements and title insurance.
Their law firm was located in the Old Line Building on Second Street in Laurel, a property the two men renovated and restored.
“Stewart did more than I did because he was so talented and a good woodworker,” Judge Nichols said with a laugh.
Mr. Hurtt transitioned from his own firm in 1992, when he began working as a corporate underwriting counsel for national title insurance companies such as Fountainhead Title Group, Stewart Title and Old Republic National Title Insurance.
He retired in 2015.
Mr. Hurtt and his wife, Suzanne Spence, a USDA plant pathologist, married in 1978, and the couple raised their two children in Clarksville and later Columbia.
He enjoyed renovation projects and successfully renovated a townhouse on Prince George Street in Annapolis, said his daughter, Elizabeth Hurtt of Durham, North Carolina.
In his retirement, he and his wife moved to East New Market, Dorchester County, after they renovated a home that overlooks the Choptank River.
In addition to woodworking, Mr. Hurtt enjoyed painting, refurbishing antique furniture and reading — especially biographies and books about politics.
Mr. Hurtt’s wife died on April 1.
A combined memorial service for the couple will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery, 6827 E. New Market Ellwood Road, Hurlock.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his son, Alex Hurtt of Columbia; a granddaughter; and a niece.
