Marilyn Elizabeth Hunt
February 4, 1927 – October 18, 2021
Marilyn Elizabeth Hunt was born in Mehan, OK, on February 4th, 1927, the first daughter of Edmond Erastus Rutter and Loe Pock Rutter (later Batten) She was predeceased by her mother and father, and by her husband, Col (retired) Richard Lee Hunt.
Marilyn met the man who would become her best friend and sweetheart, Dick Hunt, while working for his father as a stenographer in Oklahoma City. Dick entered the US Military Academy at West Point in the summer of 1946, graduating with the class of 1950. Dick and Marilyn were married at the Cadet Chapel at West Point on June 6th, 1950. As did so many of his classmates, Dick soon departed for Korea, where he commanded a combat engineer platoon and later served as the assistant S-3 (operations officer) for an engineer combat battalion. In 1952, after 16 months in the combat zone, Dick came back home and he and Marilyn finally began married life at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. They lived in an old house trailer there while Dick commanded a company. Later in their tour, as Marilyn remembered it, the quarters situation improved—they moved into a converted World War II barracks with a coal furnace! Their daughter Sherry was born during this time at Ft Leonard Wood.
In 1953, Marilyn and Dick moved for an assignment at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma before being sent to the University of Illinois so Dick could earn a master's degree. Their son, Steve, was born during this assignment. For the next two years, Marilyn accompanied Dick to the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, MS. Then in 1959, the family of 4 moved to Germany, where Dick commanded an engineer (heavy) construction company and then served as plans officer for the 7th Engineer Brigade at Rhein Main AFB. It was in 1960, during this assignment in Germany that their daughter Sue was born. In 1961, Dick and Marilyn returned to the States while Dick attended Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth, KS.
In 1962, Marilyn and kids followed Dick to a three-year assignment at West Point, then a 6-month stint at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia in 1965. In February 1966, Marilyn set up housekeeping in Oklahoma City with the three children while Dick went off to a year-long hardship tour in Thailand to command the 809th Engineer Construction Battalion.
When Dick returned from Thailand, he, Marilyn and the kids moved yet again so Dick could take an assignment working at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Soon after this move, in 1968, Dick was selected to attend a year-long program of study at the Army War College at Carlisle, PA followed by another tour in Washington D.C. as the chief of public affairs in the office of the Chief of Engineers. Marilyn once again uprooted and moved, exemplifying the true Army wife. Two years later, when Dick was appointed district engineer in New Orleans. Marilyn held down the home front while, in 1973, the lower Mississippi was hit by record-setting floods, consuming Dick's attention for many months.
In 1974, Dick was appointed lieutenant governor of the Panama Canal Zone and vice president of the Panama Canal Company. By that time Sherry and Steve were out of the house, so Dick and Marilyn with Sue in tow, partnered for a four-year tour, where Marilyn was a gracious hostess to diplomats, Congressmen and Senators, as the United States was turning over the Canal Zone to the Republic of Panama.
In 1978, Dick and Marilyn retired from military life, returning to Oklahoma City, devoting their time and energy to care for elderly relatives. They joined the New Covenant Christian Church in Oklahoma City and soon were serving others in official and unofficial roles within the church, continuing for many years.
On 23 Apr 2004, Marilyn's beloved Dick died after a long battle with cancer. This would launch a new phase in her life, one of solitude, investing her energies with her children and grandchildren until recent days.
Early in the morning of October 18th, 2021, at the age of 94, Marilyn went home to be with her OAO (one and only). She often told others that she had lived a wonderful life and had no regrets. She was ready to be with Dick once again.
Marilyn is survived by her daughter, Sherry Cox, and her husband Bill; her daughter, Sue Perry, and her husband Bill; her son Steve and his wife Elizabeth; seven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren; and her sister, Janie Howitt and her husband, Larry.
Marilyn's life was characterized by love, generosity, and selfless service, first in support of her husband and country then to others inside and outside of the family. Her home-going is both a sadness for those left behind and a joy for the life she will now share with her Lord and Savior and with Dick in Eternity. Well done thou good and faithful servant.
Graveside inurement services will be held at 1:00PM on Saturday, October 23, 2021 at Memorial Park Cemetery, Oklahoma City, OK.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly asks memorial donations be made in Marilyn's name to ASPCA or the local Humane Society.