Elva Lawrence Hunt

Elva Lawrence Hunt

Black Mountain - Elva Lawrence Hunt, a resident of Givens Highland Farms retirement community in Black Mountain, NC, died on August 5th in the Health Care Center there.

A native of Durham she graduated from Wake Forest College (now University) in 1951 when Wake Forest was still located in the town of Wake Forest, NC. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year.

Following Wake Forest Elva was a Christian education intern at the Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC working with young children. The next year she entered Yale Divinity School to study religious education. While at Yale she met her husband, Horace. They were married at the end of her first year at YDS.

During the first year that Horace was pastor of a church in Dayton, OH, she served as a released time religious education teacher there. After the birth of their three children and they were living in Newark, NJ, Elva taught in a nursery school. She became active in the establishment of Newark's Headstart program. She served as an area coordinator after the program was launched.

She later attended Bank Street College of Education where she received a master's degree in early childhood education. She taught in the Maplewood-South Orange school system for twenty-five years teaching mostly first grade but later fourth and fifth grades also.

After retirement she and Horace moved to Asheville, NC., and later to Black Mountain. They began to travel, participating in a number of Elderhostels and other tours. One of her favorites was a study of the Mayans in Central America, an interest that was kindled when she was named a Dodge Fellow to study in a rain forest of Costa Rica.

Elva and the family have been summer residents for over fifty years of the island community of Vinalhaven, ME, a place and its people who hold a special place in their memories and hearts.

In addition to her husband Horace, Elva is survived by her daughters Amy Hunt of the Cayman Islands, and Suzanne Hunt of Cairo, Egypt, as well as her son, Kenneth Hunt and his wife Samantha of Cambridge, VT. Her grandchildren include Tristan von Kirchenheim of Grand Cayman, Lillian Hunt of Essex Junction, VT and Aila Hunt of Cambridge along with two step-grandchildren, Lane and Reed Stygles. Elva is also survived by her two brothers: James Lawrence and his partner Steve West of Raleigh, and Jerry Lawrence of Richmond, VA. She was predeceased by her parents, John and Lettie Lawrence of Durham, NC.

In lieu of flowers those who wish may contribute in Elva's memory to the Employees Appreciation Fund, GIVENS HIGHLAND FARMS RESIDENTS CORP., 200 Tabernacle Road, Black Mountain, NC 28711.