David Hunter Obituary

David Hunter
Resident of Scotts Valley
David Hunter, loving father and passionate sportsman, died July 26, in Scotts Valley, at age 70.
David, and his two sisters, were born in Maddock, North Dakota to Robert Hunter, a WWII veteran, and Marie (Liudahl) Hunter, a school teacher.
After completing college in North Dakota, David attended the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, graduating in 1974. David then moved to California for residency at Stanford. Following residency, David enrolled at Harvard Law School to pursue his interest in legal education. David loved his time in Cambridge and financed his legal education by working as an emergency physician in suburban Boston.
David completed law school in 1978 and returned to medicine in California. David practiced at Alexian Brothers, where he served as ED Medical Director for more than 20 years. David was also a senior partner of CEP, where he was able to leverage his legal expertise to facilitate the growth of the physicians group.
While responding to a "Code Blue", David met Stephanie Reeves, who he married in 1983. David and Stephanie were married for 24 years and even though they divorced in 2008, they remained great friends, working together to support their three children (Allison, John and David "Scott").
Following retirement from medicine, David became the CEO of QuestBridge, a nonprofit that facilitates the enrollment of smart, low-income students to top colleges. David worked with Quest for five years and remained in contact with many of the participants following his term as CEO.
After Quest, David began a new chapter of life. He used his newfound free time to create a hillside vineyard and enjoyed spending time with his children and three grandpuppies. He also watched lots of sports and regularly visited North Dakota, where he enjoyed hunting and spending time with his father, who turned 99 in February.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Quest (https://www.questbridge.org/donate) or National Wildlife Federation (https://support.nwf.org/page/9384/donate/1) in David's honor.

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Published by Santa Cruz Sentinel on Aug. 4, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for David Hunter

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7 Entries

Jessica Marie Burtman Moran

March 16, 2026

David , he made me who I am today and I aspire to be like him tomorrow and every day after that. Ever since I found out in August 2019, I think about him everyday. I first met David at a basketball game that he came to support me and took me to ice cream after. I was very skeptical because my dad was never around when i was little so I never had any fatherly person in my life, but david raised me like his own. He would pick me up from school and take me to his house. He gave me my own room in his house with a bathroom for after school to hang out in, He would pick me up from school on most thursdays and take me to countless Stanford college football/basketball gam , & he would buy me shirts from the game. I have countless still . I realize it´s actually pretty cool to have a Harvard law hoodie and a Stanford College Hoodie. I graduated school early because he would tell me everytime we had time we had homemade pie that knowledge was power. He would let me and my friends drive around his Kawasaki after school. I can´t even count how many figure 8´s I did around his big barn or how many times I use the trampoline inside the barn and i even thought about moving my Pony to his barn stall that he built. Shadow is still my best friend till this day we are both 22 and he is a Shetland pony mixed with a Morgan horse that i got my 15th birthday from David. It was the horse i rode everyday that i found out was for sale. He actually showed up to my first ever horseback riding show. And every one after that. It was pretty cool. I can still remember him perfecting my mind holding the camera as I would go by counting my strides. I still have tons of videos he made where i can hear his voice in the background cheering me on! Me and Shadow miss you :/ I remember when he taught me to drive lol and he only had cars that drove stick and I was too scared to get out of first gear to second so we were going very slow to the swimming hole. if we weren´t in the Ford focus we were in the jeep just going really slow! and it didn´t have a roof only the roll bars. The crazy part is I don´t even think I have a really realized how awesome it was to have David in my life. When I found out, he passed away I got a tattoo in his memory. It´s actually the first tattoo I ever got. Sometimes I get sad when I think about him, but then I remember how lucky I was to even know him. Sometimes I forget he´s not here anymore or Sometimes I wish I got to meet his 3 kids. He used to tell me so much about how one of them was gonna be a doctor and I forgot what the other boy did but I remember he would tell me that Allison bought a convertible BMW when she graduated law school and I remember thinking she was the coolest person in the world and I didn´t know her but she´s probably still really cool. I hope they are all doing good! I could go on for days, but I´m gonna sum it up here . Rest in peace, David Hunter, the coolest person I´ve ever met and you were lucky if you knew him too.
- Jessie

LuAnn

September 23, 2019

I am shocked to read that David Hunter has passed away. I worked with David at Alexian Brothers Hospital during the 1980's and clearly remember his work ethic and enjoyed working with him. It will take me time to process the fact he is no longer here on Earth. His passion for everything including his dogs and peacocks was admirable. You will be missed Dr. Hunter

Jack & Marite Dufour

August 11, 2019

David was a good friend and a great neighbor. He would drop in on us and swap stories about pets, chicken, koi and many more. We gave him a weekly supply of fresh eggs which he appreciated a lot. We will miss our conversations and his friendship.

May God grant David eternal rest and everlasting peace.

August 4, 2019

I fondly remember the old redwood hot tub, the gathering spot for David's and Stephane's party's Pat Schramm RN

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August 4, 2019

SO sorry to hear of David's death. Stopped to see Bob about a new book I am writing on Benson County WWI veterans and when he answered the door I instantly knew something was wrong and he said Davis had died. Although David was 10 years younger then me he was like a brother and soon became a part of our hunting group that included his cousins Curt and Bob Liudahl, Ron Olstad Alvin Hovland and myself.
As time passed we did not see each other as much but whenever he was back for hunting I usually was able to get together with him andrecall our many hunting trips.
I know he will quickly look up Lefy and Ron in heaven and share the memories of goose hunting at Tennis Shoe Pass at Silver Lake.

May you rest in peace. Your everlasting friend. MARLAN

LEEANN NELSON

August 2, 2019

SO SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT DAVID.
HE WAS MY FIRST COUSIN ON HIS MOMS SIDE.
YOU HAVE MY CONDOLENCES.
WE ARE THINKING OF YOU ALL.
LEEANN LIUDAHL NELSON. (DAUGHTER OF HAROLD AND AGNES LIUDAHL)

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