Richard Alan Hunt's Obituary
RICHARD WAS BORN JULY 7, 1931, IN THE SMALL TEXAS TOWN OF EASTLAND LOCATED BETWEEN ABILENE AND FT. WORTH. HE SAID OF HIS PARENTS IN A HIGH SCHOOL AUTO- BIOGRAPHY THAT OF ALL THE INFLUENCES IN HIS LIFE MOTHER AND FATHER TOPPED THEM ALL, AND HOW MUCH HE APPRECIATED THEM TEACHING HIM RIGHT FROM WRONG. HIS MOTHER HAD GIVEN HIM THE NAME AND SPELLING OF HIS MIDDLE NAME ‘ALAN’ FROM A MOVIE ACTOR OF THAT TIME, AND MOST OF THE FAMILY CALL HIM ALAN TO THIS DAY. MOTHER PASSED ON AT AN EARLY AGE IN HER FORTIES WITH ASTHMA. ELLIS MILTON WAS HIS ONLY BROTHER, AND HE PRECEDED HIM IN DEATH.HE WORKED VARIOUS JOBS EVEN AS A BOY – SELLING NEWSPAPERS AT THE COURT HOUSE FOR 3 CENTS A PIECE – SOMETIMES EVEN GETTING A NICKEL FOR A 3 CENT PAPER. HE WASHED WINDOWS AT THE DEPT. STORE AND SAID HE WAS KIND OF A JANITOR – JUST A ‘HANDY MAN’. HE DID PRESSING AT THE TAILOR SHOP ON COCO COLA UNIFORMS AND WASHED WINDOWS AT THE STORES.WHILE IN HIGH SCHOOL HE GAVE HIS LIFE TO CHRIST AND WAS BAPTISED AT THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF EASTLAND WHERE HIS GRANDFATHER HAD SERVED AS A PASTOR IN 1898. THE REV. ELLIS HUNT WAS A CIRCUIT RIDING MINISTER AND EVANGELIST, AS WELL AS PASTOR. A STAINED GLASS WINDOW IN THE CHURCH IS DEDICATED TO HIM. EVERY OTHER GENERATION HAD SERVED THE LORD AND RICHARD QUESTIONED HIS GRANDDAD AS TO WHETHER IT WAS HIS TURN. GRANDFATHER SAID HE WOULD KNOW IF HE WAS CALLED.AFTER GRADUATION FROM HIGH SCHOOL HE LEFT HOME AT 16 TO WORK FOR THE PHONE COMPANY AS AN UNLOCATED LINEMAN OUT OF FT. WORTH. WHEN HIS SUPERVISOR FOUND OUT HIS AGE HE HAD TO LET HIM GO. HE RETURNED HOME AND HIS MOTHER SIGNED THE BIBLE AND GAVE AN EARLIER DATE FOR HIS AGE TO ENABLE HIM TO JOIN THE MILIARY. HE ENLISTED JUNE 10, 1948 AND SERVED DOING ELECTRICAL WORK ON THE USS PRARRIE DESTROYER TENDER AND THE USS MARSH DESTROYER ESCORT. BEING COLOR BLIND ALL HIS LIFE NEVER PREVENTED HIM FROM DOING JOBS WHERE COLOR CODES WERE CRITICAL. HE ALWAYS SAID HE WAS A MARINE FOR 30 MINUTES, BUT THEN REALIZED HE MIGHT RATHER RIDE ON A SHIP AND JOINED THE NAVY.WHEN HE GOT OUT OF THE NAVY HE WENT BACK TO EASTLAND AND HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND HARDIN SIMMONS COLLEGE, BUT DECIDED TO RETURN TO SAN DIEGO AND A JOB AT CONVAIR. HE WAS GOING TO GO TO THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE BUT MISSED AN EXAM DATE AND MADE A LIVING IN THE MEANTIME PAINTING HOUSES AND THEN WORKING AT SAN DIEGO GAS AND ELECTRIC.HE WENT BACK TO AMARILLO IN A 1947 DODGE AND SPENT TWO WEEKS IN A TRAILER FOR $40 WITH ALL THINGS INCLUDED. HE WORKED AT THE SANTA FE RAILROAD AS A ‘CAR TOAD’ TACKING SHIPPPING TAGS ON FREIGHT CARS WHILE HE WAITED FOR A CALL TO THE POLICE DEPT. HE ALSO WORKED AT SWIFT & CO. ICE CREAM AND THE CITY PARK DOING IRRIGATION AT NIGHT. HE WAS A POLICE OFFICER IN AMARILLO WHEN DAUGHTER, LINDA, WAS BORN WHILE HE WAS ON A STACK OUT. HE WAS OFFERED MORE MONEY AND WENT TO WORK AT THE S.W. PUBLIC SERVICE AS A LINEMAN. WITH SNOW BLOWING AND ON A HIGH POLE HE DECIDED ENOUGH OF THAT WEATHER AND RETURNED TO CALIFORNIA.HE ALMOST WENT TO WORK FOR THE CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL, BUT SINCE THEY WOULD HAVE SENT HIM TO THE DESERT AREA AND FOR MORE MONEY HE DECIDED TO GO TO THE TELEPHONE COMPANY WHERE HE WORKED FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS. WHILE AT TELCO HE WORKED WITH DEVELOPERS ON PROJECTS LIKE THE CARLSBAD PLAZA AND BORREGO SPRINGS SHOPPING CENTERS. HE WORKED MAINLY WITH SMALL MULTI-LINE BUSINESS TO LARGE INSTALLATIONS INCLUDING DATA ELECTRONICS INC, AMERICAN GRAPHICS, ETC. HIS MOTTO WAS TO ‘GET THE JOB DONE AND DONE RIGHT’ NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT THE OBSTABLES. HE HAD THE REPUTATION OF BEING A FAIR AND EFFECTIVE SUPERVISOR, ALWAYS MAKING SURE HIS PEOPLE WERE HIGHLY TRAINED. WHILE WORKING HE ATTENDED GROSSMONT AND SAN DIEGO JUNIOR COLLEGES MAJORING IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT.HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE EL CAJON PERSONNEL COMMISSION FOR 18 YEARS AND SERVED AS CHAIRMAN FOR AT LEAST FIVE OF THOSE YEARS. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE SAN DIEGO SHERIFF’S RESERVE FOR 10 YEARS AND PROGRESSED FROM A REGULAR RESERVE DEPUTY TO UNIT IEIUTENANT TO EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND THE SECOND RANKING IN THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF’S RESERVE.IN 1960 HE WAS ACCEPTED AS A MEMBER OF A CHAPTER OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF BARBER SHOP QUARTET SINGING IN AMERICA, AND LATER ENJOYED A VISIT TO THE MUSEUM.DAUGHTER, MARSHA, WAS BORN IN LA MESA, CALFORNIA, AND NOW BOTH DAUGHTERS MAKE THEIR HOME IN CORVALLIS, OREGON.RICHARD RETIRED FROM THE BELL SYSTEM AFTER 30 YEARS ON NOVEMBER 15, 1983. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE TELEPHONE PIONEERS OF AMERICA AND THE TELCO RETIREES ASSOCIATION AND A LIFE MEMBER OF AMVETS.HE WAS HONORED AND PROUD TO SERVE AS A DEACON OF SHADOW MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY CHURCH, AND LOVED SERVING UNTIL HE HAD A TRAGIC AND SERIOUS FALL. AFTER THAT HE FELT HE WOULD JUST BE IN THE WAY AND NOT ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE AND SERVE COMMUNION AS HE WOULD HAVE LIKED. HE BECAME AS HE SAID A ‘SEAT SAVER’ FOR OTHERS AND ALWAYS TRIED TO GET TO THE CHURCH EARLY TO SAVE SEATS FOR PEOPLE.THE LORD HAD PROTECTED HIM WHEN HE WAS ON A POLE AND HAD MANY VOLTS OF ELECTRICTY PASS THROUGH HIS BODY. HE SAID MANY TIMES THE LORD COULD HAVE TAKEN HIM HOME SO MANY TIMES, WHETHER TROUGH NON-HODGKINS LYMPHOMA OR THE MANY FALLS HE HAD, BUT HE ALWAYS SAID THE LORD MUST HAVE SOMETHING MORE FOR ME TO DO.HE ENJOYED TRAVELING AND MAKING NEW FRIENDS AND DID QUITE A BIT OF TRAVEL BY TRAIN INTO MEXICO, ACROSS CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES AND IN EUROPE. HE WAS ALSO BLESSED TO HAVE THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING PART OF A 13 COACH MOTORHOME CARAVAN COVERING SEVERAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. AND YES, HE DID DRIVE THE MOROTRHOME THROUGH THE NARROW VILLAGE STREETS AND ONTO THE AUTOBAHNS.HE WAS A VERY POLITE TEXAS GENTLEMAN, ALWAYS SMILING AND ALWAYS REMINDING PEOPLE TO SAY ‘PLEASE’ AND ‘THANK YOU’ AND FOR MARRIAGE TO BE A SUCCESSS ONE OF THE THINGS TO ALWAYS SAY IS ‘YES, DEAR’. OF COURSE THAT WORKED BOTH WAYS.RICHARD ALWAYS GAVE GOD ALL THE GLORY, HONOR AND PRAISE FOR THE MANY YEARS OF BLESSINGS. HE MARRIED CAROLYN JUNE 30, 1967, AND THEIRS WAS A TRUE LOVE RELATIONSHIP WHEREVER THE LORD LED.AFTER RAISING HIS HANDS TOWARD HEAVEN HE FELL INTO A DEEP SLEEP AND DIED PEACEFULLY. DURING THOSE HOURS THERE WAS NO MORE TREMBLING. HE WAS HOME.
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