Jeanne Hurd, 85, a former professional violinist and retired state employee, died Saturday, June 10, of complications from a stroke at Altenheim Nursing Home in Forest Park. Born Jeanne Edwards, Mrs. Hurd was the only child of a violin teacher. Mrs. Hurd began playing the instrument at the age of 3, said Lori McCarthy, a longtime friend. She received a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1936. Mrs. Hurd headed the Biltmore Trio, a group that played songs by such composers as Cole Porter and Irving Berlin at weddings, conventions and other celebrations. “She played beautifully,” McCarthy said. “She used to take requests, and she had an extensive repertoire of popular music.” She also organized the Musical Notes, a singing group involving about 50 underprivileged children from Chicago’s West Side. Mrs. Hurd “patiently cultivated in these boys and girls not only musical knowledge, but social confidence as well,” an audience member said in a 1967 newspaper account. Mrs. Hurd also worked as a caseworker for the Illinois Department of Public Aid, retiring five years ago. Mrs. Hurd served as the Republican committeewoman in Chicago’s 31st Ward for about 25 years and had a deep enthusiasm for the party. “There were hardly any Republicans in the 31st Ward, but she’d go out and try to find them or convert them,” McCarthy said. Mrs. Hurd was married twice. She was wedded in the 1940s to Franklin Hurd, a real estate broker, and the couple remained together until his death in 1970. In 1990, she married John Schlauch, a former WGN-TV still photographer who died in 1997. Services are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Town of Maine Cemetery, Dee and Touhy Roads, Park Ridge.
