June 30, 2008
Friends and family of Marcus Jonathan Hunt said their farewells this morning with music, personal tributes and poetry.
There was an overflow crowd of more than 600 people at the 11 a.m. funeral service for him at St. Clement’s Church, officiated by the Rev. Ron Thompson.
Hunt, the 36-year-old father of two with a third child expected in August and the son of Gayle and Woody Hunt, died last week at a family vacation home in La Jolla, Calif. The cause of his death has yet to be determined.
He was remembered by friends for his winning smile, generosity and intelligence. They praised him for the quality of his friendship and the love of El Paso that brought him back to the city intending to make positive difference.
And they lamented the loss of a passionate visionary, a leader full of promise, energy and commitment to his community and its people.
Born in El Paso, Hunt attended St. John's College in Santa Fe, NM where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in philosophy and mathematics with minors in physics and languages.
After working in San Francisco for several years as an independent securities dealer, he returned to El Paso and joined the Hunt family companies.
He was chairman of the Regional Economic Development Corporation of El Paso, Las Cruces, and Ciudad Juarez, and he served on the boards of Project Arriba, the Trans-Pecos Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization, the El Paso County Historical Society, the Paso Del Norte Group, Lydia Patterson Institute and the Nature Conservancy of New Mexico.
He was the financial manager for investments of Hunt Companies and affiliate companies and was president of the Hunt Family Foundation, set up to serve non-profit organizations in the El Paso region.
He is survived by his wife and children, parents and brothers Jason, Joshua and Matthew and his sister, Sarah.
Those wishing to remember him can make memorial contributions to Texas Tech School of Medicine, Department for Mental Health Research, 4800 Alberta, El Paso, TX 79905 or to The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico, 212 E. Marcy St. Suite 200, Santa Fe, NM 87501.
Funeral services were handled by Sunset Funeral Home-West. Those wishing to register online may do so at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net.