HUNT, Joe H., 73, of Edmond, died Monday, July 5, 1999, at Columbia Edmond Medical Center. Born December 20, 1925, in Oakman, OK, he attended school in Vanoss, OK, graduating from high school in 1942. A veteran of the U.S. Navy (1944-46, 50-52), he served our country during World War II and the Korean War. The G.I. Bill made it possible for him to go to Oklahoma State University, where he graduated in 1949 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. After graduation, he was hired by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, with whom he worked from 1949 to 1986. He rose rapidly through the organization, providing leadership in positions with Southwestern Bell and AT&T in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and New York. As General Plant Manager in Houston, he directed recovery operations after Hurricane Carla, managed the establishment of telephone communication systems for NASA, and oversaw the communication set-up at the LBJ Ranch when Johnson became President in 1963. He also helped the company strengthen its minorities-hiring practices. In 1965, he became Vice President and General Manager of Southwestern Bell, Oklahoma and became active in Oklahoma civic life as a board member of Liberty National Bank and Baptist Hospital. During eleven years as Assistant Vice President of Operations at AT&T, he became the principal operations link between the parent company and the regional Bell companies. His testimony figured prominently in AT&T's defense during the anti-trust suit that ended in 1982. He was responsible for the establishment of the Executive Training Center for AT&T in Atlanta in 1969, significantly improving the quality of training for middle and upper-level management. In 1977, he became Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer for Southwestern Bell, the position he held until his retirement in 1986. During these years he oversaw the divestiture of SWB from AT&T and helped the company gain solid footing in a new, competitive era. He was a founding director of Bellcore, an organization formed to assist in collaborations between former Bell System companies after divestiture.

Throughout the years he played an active role in support of church, church-related and civic organizations, and higher education. A member of Quail Springs Baptist Church, OKC, he was a deacon, Sunday School teacher, community missions volunteer, and organizational leader. Baptists of the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association knew him as a key leader in church planting, the purchase of the association's headquarters building in New York City, and the establishment of T.O.N.E., a non-profit organization created to empower disadvantaged families. He served on the boards of William Jewell College, the Missouri Baptist Children's Home, and the Baptist hospitals of OKC and St. Louis, MO. Through the years he and his wife, Adeanya, have been generous in support of Oklahoma Baptist University and Oklahoma State University.

He is survived by his wife, Adeanya; his four sons and their wives: Bruce and Kristen Hunt, Salem, OR, David and Cynthia Hunt, Gray, TN, Paul Hunt and Nina Martin, San Diego, CA, and Greg and Priscilla Hunt, Kansas City; eight grandchildren: Clay, Kerry, LeAnna, Caleb, Nathanael, Ian, Michelle, and Ethan; two brothers: Dale and Bill: two sisters; Nina Barker and Betty Wood; and numerous other family members and friends.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Joe and Adeanya Hunt Faculty Development Fund at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma or the Oklahoma State University "Friends of the Library" in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Formal visitation will be held on Thursday, July 8, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Services will be on Friday, July 9, at Quail Springs Baptist Church at 1:00 p.m. with interment following at Memorial Park Cemetery.

Published: Wed, July 7, 1999, 12:00 AM, The Oklahoman, Archive ID: 769038