Delbertine Hurley Greenwood

Delbertine Hurley (Della) Greenwood passed away at Lincoln County Medical Center in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on March 23, 2025. She was 98 years old. Della was born May 21, 1926, in Marfa, Texas. She was the daughter of Edwena and Lucius Hurley and the sister of Thelma Lee (Hurley) Rackley (Ford) and Ann Hurley all of whom predeceased her.

Della graduated from Marfa High School in 1943. During World War II, she was employed at Marfa Army Airfield. After the war ended, she attended the Western Union School in San Angelo, Texas, and returned to Marfa to serve as manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company. She resigned this position to accept a teller’s position at the Marfa National Bank, where she worked until her marriage on December 10, 1947 to Hart M. Greenwood, Jr., also of Marfa.

Della was a member of the Methodist Church and sang in the choir. She was a charter member of the Marfa Pilot Club, a professional women’s organization. Following their marriage, she and Hart moved to a ranch south of Marfa and two years later to the Heart-Diamond Ranch north of Carlsbad, New Mexico, where they raised three children. Hart passed away in 2010 on their 63rd wedding anniversary.

Although Della was a “city girl,” she adapted to ranch life. She learned to ride and was, for a time, the only help Hart had. She taught her daughters how to ride by carrying them on a pillow in front of her while she and Hart worked cattle. When the girls and then their son, Trey, were old enough to replace her as cowhands, she stopped riding and perfected her ranch cooking. Her branding dinners were renowned. She learned the ranching business and spent many hours “conjecturing” about which cows to sell and which to keep. After Hart died, she moved from the ranch to Carlsbad to be closer to her children, then moved with her daughters to Ruidoso after the ranch was sold.

Della is survived by her children, Kathy Lynn Greenwood (Robert C. Jones), Frances Lee “Flee” Gard-Williams (Lesley S), Hart M. (Trey) Greenwood, III (Dell); grandchildren Keri Lynn Rath (Steve), Ernest Ray “E. Ray” Gard, Jr., Hart M. Greenwood, IV (Keeley), and Billie Hugh Greenwood (Lauren); and great grandchildren Leigh Rath, Stephen Rath, Hart M. Greenwood, V, Owen Edward Greenwood, and Isla Jo Greenwood.

A private graveside service will be held on April 3rd, 2025 at Carlsbad Cemetery. A celebration of life will be held at the West Funeral Home Chapel in Carlsbad at 1:00pm the same day.