Lloyd Gifford Hunter's Obituary
Lloyd grew up in Southeast Houston, oldest son to Oscar and Hazel. He enjoyed camping and outdoor exploration with the Boy Scouts, as well as traveling with family. He was curious and industrious, busying himself in younger years with several jobs, including a paper route, ice cream shop, and ushering at the movie theater. He was always close with brothers Claude, David, and Kenneth, setting a good example and also helping them get into mischief. Stories abound of homemade pipe bombs, soap box racers, sling shots, catapults, and wooden forts. He took the role of big brother seriously and put the life saving training he received in the scouts to rescue his youngest brother from drowning after he walked off a pier. This led to being awarded a certificate of merit from the American Red Cross.
After graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School, Lloyd joined the Marines, serving his country in the Korean Conflict. His post was working in the motor pool and electronic repair. He was able to experience the beauty of the Asian continent and witness sub-freezing temperatures so low that the oil barrels had to be heated to be usable. The GI bill afforded him the opportunity to then attend the University of Texas at Austin, earning a degree in education.
His brother Claude shared his enjoyment of racing cars in rally events that relied on maintaining the machine, but also pacing the speed and timing turns with mathematical precision. Though his need for speed waned in later years, he always loved driving when the end result was a spectacular road trip.
The diversion of board games, cards games, war games and dominos remained a lifelong source of entertainment that he shared with friends and family. This interest also led him to the Houston Chess Association. After he served as its director for 37 years, the organization has continued to grow and bring access to organized tournament play to hundreds of school age children across the metropolitan area.
Another hobby was a lifelong interest in history and genealogy. Early Texas history remained a favorite, especially since their ancestor Dr. Johnson Calhoun Hunter came with a group of settlers in Stephen F. Austin’s “old 300”. Since then, the clan has spread throughout Texas and points further.
After years of being the beloved bachelor uncle, he met the love of his life and began the adventure of their own family. He and Nancy met at the party of a mutual acquaintance and found a match that was to result in 52 years of happiness. Their honeymoon was an amazing road trip camping across the North American continent. On the southwest side of Houston, they moved from their first apartment to the house they would call home for the next five decades. This was a good midpoint between Nancy’s work in the medical center and Dowling Middle School, where Lloyd would teach mathematics for 28 years in the public school system. Their activities together beyond traveling and camping expanded to include a bowling league, a neighborhood dominoes (Tx 42) club, church social groups and maintaining old friendships. Their boys John and Steven came along and filled their lives with even more activity.
Lloyd and Nancy imparted on the boys their love of travel, camping, sports and community service. Lloyd enjoyed helping with coaching the boys’ little league, chaperoning scout troops and building tree forts in the backyard, echoing his own childhood. They traveled as often as their schedules afforded, taking the boys (and often nephews David and James) across the country. Weekends were spent camping across Texas and longer summer road trips included the National Parks of California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, as well as Disney World in Florida.
In retirement, Lloyd and Nancy continued traveling to re-visit old familiar favorites like Yellowstone, Oregon, Colorado, and Maine, as well as farther destinations, including Alaska, Canada and Japan. They still loved Texas best, spending more time in the Hill Country where they built a place to stay and gather friends and family for weekends and holidays. John and Steven married and added two grandchildren each to the clan, carrying forward Lloyd’s values of love, kindness, curiosity, responsibility and humor.
A celebration of life will be held at South Park Funeral Home in Pearland, TX on Saturday, December 2, 2023 starting at 12:30pm. Reception follows. Donations may be made to Houston Area Parkinson Society
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