Hundreds gathered March 6 to pay tribute to Priscilla Payne Hurd at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity on Wyandotte Street in Bethlehem March ??. Some remembered her service to the community. Others recalled her leadership.

The 650-seat church was nearly full of friends, family and others who came to celebrate the life of one of Lehigh Valley's most well-known philanthropists, who died last month.

In spite of a winter chill and gray skies that matched the color of the stone walls of the church, the mood of the crowd was upbeat.

"When she came to Moravian College, she wanted to get to know everybody," said Beverly Kochard, a former vice president of student affairs at Moravian College, speaking after the memorial service. "She would ask the president to drive her around the campus in a golf cart."

Hurd was the first woman named chair of the Moravian College Board of Trustees. The Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex on the campus is named for her.

"The students loved her," recalled Deborah Evans, who is with the office of the president at Moravian College.

The service in the 151-year-old church was led by the Very Right Reverend Anthony R. Pompa, who affirmed Priscilla Payne Hurd's Christian beliefs and assured the attending family and friends that she is now in the presence of Jesus Christ.

The celebrants joined in reciting the 23rd Psalm, which seemed to capture the spiritual nature of their friend. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures …"

"Celebrate the good she did," Pompa said. "She felt fulfilled by her life."

He praised her for "extraordinary leadership and vision" that "left a large impact on the Lehigh Valley."

He remembered that Hurd "treated everyone with the same courtesy because she really cared for them."

Susan Hurd Cummings, Hurd's daughter, remembered the fun of traveling with her mother and recounted some of their adventures together.

One of the ushers for the service was long-time friend and fellow member of the Moravian College Board of Trustees Curtis "Hank" Barnette.

"She was a remarkable lady," said Barnette, a former CEO of Bethlehem Steel Corp. "She dedicated her life to service."

Service to others was a theme repeated by many who knew Hurd, whom many referred to as "Prill."

"She had a love for people with disabilities and supported them immensely and intensely," said Bob Levine of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation of Allentown.

Leadership was another theme that the celebrants of Hurd's life returned to again and again in conversations about their friend.

"Priscilla Hurd was important for her leadership in the community and on the board of directors at Moravian College," said Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, himself a graduate of the college. "She leaves a long-lasting legacy for the college.

"The Bethlehem community is a better place because of Priscilla Payne Hurd," Callahan said.

Others spoke about Hurd's contributions across the Lehigh Valley.

"It's safe to say that some of the most important institutions in the region wouldn't exist if she hadn't come to Bethlehem," said Alan Jennings, the director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley.

He said she took stewardship of her resources and used them for the good of the community.

Following the service, Hurd's friends met in the adjacent Sayre Hall, where the sense of celebration of a remarkable life continued.

Hurd, a resident of Riegelsville, died Feb. 5 at age 93.