She was admitted to the Illinois bar and practiced law including work as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney.
A supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, Hurley was a member of the Catholic Interracial Council and the NAACP.
She did not seek reelection, later becoming a mother to Sheila and Martin Simon, a lawyer, an author, and supporting her husband when he served as the state's lieutenant governor from 1969 to 1973, during his failed gubernatorial bid in 1972, and his terms as congressman and United States Senator until 1997.
She served on the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science until her death from brain cancer on February 20, 2000, at the age of 77, at her home, in Makanda, Illinois.
[3] A decade after her death, her daughter Sheila became Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.