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Dick Hunt, the man who, with his wife Shirley, gave the Colorado Mountain College Foundation $530,000, had a funny habit.
Every morning, he’d walk down the driveway from his 19th century ranch house near the Roaring Fork River to his energy meter to check how many kilowatt hours had ticked by since the previous morning. Year after year, he’d record the numbers in little calendar books.
The Hunts passed away less than six months apart from one another. Shirley died a year ago, on Aug. 20, 2021, and Dick followed on Jan. 23, 2022. As their estate became settled and news of the Hunts’ gift reached CMC, it was clear that supporting education was vitally important to this generous and thoughtful local couple.
Dick and Shirley understood how difficult it could be to want an education but not be able to afford one. As a child, Dick shuttled between family and friends, and never finished high school, though was accepted into the Missouri School of Mines where he earned a geophysics degree. Shirley attended Washington University in St. Louis but had to leave college to support her family.
Along the way, the couple contributed their time and money to the Roaring Fork Valley and Carbondale in a quiet, sustained way. Dick served on water boards and participated in community associations, while Shirley volunteered at the library, served on Valley View’s auxiliary board and read to children at the elementary school. The two attended classes at CMC, with Shirley taking Spanish and astronomy, while providing individual scholarships to those in need.
“My parents valued education,” Atkinson said. “They were self-made and self-educated. They believed in learning, whether it was reading a book, watching a program on TV or taking courses at CMC.” Read More »
Making a will
August is National Make-a-Will Month, a coincidental reminder of the Hunts’ thoughtful gift. After providing for their daughters’ families, Lankford said her parents decided years before that a substantial portion of their estate would go to charity. CMC now can provide educational opportunities to those who may be without options, in addition to over a dozen nonprofits the Hunts chose to support.
The Colorado Mountain College Foundation recently partnered with FreeWill a free online resource that can help individuals create or update a legally valid will in about 20 minutes. Click here to visit the CMC Foundation's FreeWill page to learn more or to create your will.
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