Ken Hunt, Dave’s Uncle, was born in 1937 in Morris, Illinois. When he was eight years old, his parents decided their three boys should be raised in the countryside. Ken loved this quiet upbringing, and it would eventually shape his life and line of work.
Growing up, Ken loved sports and excelled at anything with a ball. His favorite sport was baseball, playing shortstop and first base in high school. In college, he pivoted to intramural fast-pitch softball and played in local leagues throughout his life as a skilled pitcher.
Ken studied agriculture at the University of Illinois. While he never particularly cared for school, he did enjoy making friends for life through his fraternity, Alpha Gamma Rho. The best connection he made in college was meeting his wife, Karen, at a fraternity dance.
Ken put his agriculture degree to use by partnering with his brother Bob (Dave’s Dad) to farm corn and soybeans. For 41 years, he focused on the farming work while his brother handled the books and business aspects. “Bob loved computers, and I concentrated more on running the farm,” said Ken. “Brothers don’t usually stay in business together that long, but we did. We understood each other’s strengths and capabilities, and that made it work.”
While Ken was farming, Karen was a stay-at-home mom raising their children. As the kids got older, she became a Medicare specialist at a local hospital. When it was time for retirement, they moved to sunny Tucson, Arizona, where Ken loved playing golf.
They moved to the Dallas area in recent years to be closer to two of their daughters and several of their six granddaughters. Their other daughter lives in the Chicago area. Sadly, Karen passed away three years ago after a courageous battle with cancer. Ken is now in a retirement community in Dallas, playing lots of pool and bocce ball with friends.
Ken and Karen loved traveling around the world together, especially river cruises throughout Europe. One favorite cruise took them from Budapest to Amsterdam. Ken is looking forward to another river cruise next summer with his daughters and their husbands, traveling from Paris to Normandy.
Ken received financial guidance from Dave throughout much of his working and retired life. “Dave is a fine man and a wonderful resource to work with,” said Ken.“To have him be a member of the family is even better.”
We are proud to call Ken a client and treasure him as an elder statesman in the Hunt family.
