Obituary for James Franklin Hunt

James Franklin

Hunt

September 28, 1934 – October 3, 2020

James Franklin Hunt, 86, passed away on October 3, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He died peacefully of causes incident to age.

Jim was born September 28, 1934 in Jefferson, Iowa, to Clarence Francis Hunt and Marie Vogel Hunt. He was the youngest of three children. He grew up on a farm, where he learned to fish on Harding Creek and hunt in the surrounding cornfields and timber. He graduated from Jefferson High School and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business from Iowa State University in 1957.

He met his lifetime love, Carla Urchek, in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was teaching high school and Jim was starting his career at Reliance Electric Company in industrial sales. Carla was beautiful, smart, and had lots of options, but Jim was persistent and they were married June 25, 1960 in St. Robert’s Catholic Church in Cortland, Ohio. They were wed for 40 years and raised three sons, Jeff, Tom, and David. In 2001, illness took Carla from us much too early, and left a hole in Jim’s heart that never fully healed.

Jim fell in love with the West after spending a college summer session in Boulder, Colorado. Each summer while living in Ohio, Jim and Carla packed the boys into their 1969 VW camper van and roamed the forests, high desert, and mountains of the West. Finally, in 1972, the Reliance regional manager’s job opened up in Utah. Jim pounced. The family moved to their mountain-top home in Summit Park, where Jim and Carla spent the most wonderful years of their lives, forming life-long friendships with many old-time Park City families and St. Mary’s parishioners.

Jim retired from Reliance Electric Company (later acquired by Allen-Bradley/Rockwell Automation) in 1997, after 40 years of service.

Being a sales guy, Jim was a talker. He liked to tell stories, most of them involving unrelated topics in a unique non-sequitur style that usually, though not always, connected up. He liked to tease and joke, and had a twinkle in his eye. He enjoyed a stiff drink, candy, conversation, and fly fishing on the Green River below Flaming Gorge, a passion he instilled in his boys.

Jim had a big heart, loved his family, and took care of us. He spoiled his grandchildren with “unlimited treats” at the movies. His signature farewell was “Peace and Love!”

Jim is survived by his three sons, Jeffrey (Cindy) of Salt Lake City, Utah; Thomas (Linda) of San Francisco, California; David (Lisa) of Jackson Hole, Wyoming; six grandchildren: Madison, Christopher, Tess, Amelie, Audrey, and Ellen; and a sister, Kathleen (Carlton) Peterson of Richardson, Texas. He was preceded in death by his wife, Carla; sister, Therese Beusch; and brother-in-law and lifelong partner-in-crime, Charles “Chuck” Beusch.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, October 23, 2020 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, followed by interment at Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Due to Covid and pandemic conditions, the funeral Mass and interment will be limited to family only. Jim would not want anyone to get sick on his account.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home. You can share your memories of Jim at http://www.neilodonnellfh.com.