 Macurdy attended Keating Elementary and Hutchinson Intermediary schools, and graduated from Cass Technical High School, all in Detroit.He attended the Wayne State University College of Engineering from 1947–1949, then entered an apprenticeship program for wood pattern-die model makers provided by the styling section of General Motors.He put his apprenticeship on hold to serve in the U.S. Air Force for four years during the Korean War at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, rising to the rank of Sergeant as a radar-electronics instructor.