小杰西·科尔曼·亨特.

阿比林市长，石油商，牧场主，1934年以前

小杰西·科尔曼·亨特., 石油工程师, 牧场主, 两届阿比林市长, 7月31日出生, 1914, 在范霍恩, 德州, 到J. C. 和埃洛伊丝·亨特. He moved with his parents to Abilene as a freshman in high school in 1928. After graduating with honors from Abilene High School in 1932, he attended Hardin-Simmons University for two years and then completed both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in 石油工程师ing in 1937 at the University of 德州.

刚从大学毕业, he returned to Abilene to go into a partnership with his father in the oil exploration and production firm of 猎人 and 猎人. The company’s oil interests were located principally in the West Central 德州 area, and he ranched in far West 德州 on land his father had purchased in 1924.

In 1938, 猎人 married 玛丽 Balch, a 1935 graduate of Hardin-Simmons. The couple had two children, Robert and Carolyn.

1945年他父亲去世后, 猎人, 31岁的时候, became head of the company he had shared with his father. 作为一个独立的石油运营商, 猎人 was a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He was director of the 德州 Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, and served as their district vice president for the West Central 德州 region.

在他的职业生涯中, 他在许多董事会任职, including the Chisholm Trail Boy Scout Council, 德州浸信会基金会, 独立石油协会, 国民银行, 和西德克萨斯公用事业公司. In 1961, he served as vice chairman of the HSU Board of Directors, and was chairman of the building committee when the new student union building (now Moody Center) was planned and built.

亨特积极参与公民事务, serving as president of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, 扶轮社, 阿比林公益金(现为联合劝募会), 以及基督教青年会董事会. He served as a member of the 1967 Citizens Advisory Committee on capital improvements and was three-time chairman of the Board of Education’s advisory committees on scholastic population and projected growth.

In 1969, 猎人 was elected mayor of Abilene. 他的任期为三年, aggressively leading the council through the early 1970s, and was especially concerned about the water needs of the dry West 德州 city. 猎人 served several terms on the board of the West Central 德州 Municipal Water district, supporting the Hubbard Creek project to bring water to the city, and urging others to look forward with him to make additional, long-range development plans for the city’s water supply. Over the years, water resources took up much of his time and energy. He was said to be among the most insightful in the area of future water needs.

赞扬他对公民的贡献, he received the Abilene Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Citizens Award in 1953, making him the youngest person (at age 39) to win that distinction. In 1957, Hardin-Simmons University bestowed upon him its highest alumni honor, 基特校友服务奖. He was named the VFW Citizen of the Year in 1959, and also received the Abilene Junior Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year Award.

He served his church as a deacon for many years at First Baptist Church of Abilene and was vice chairman of the finance committee.

猎人’s ranching interests in far West 德州 were on the Guadalupe Mountain Ranch, 1924年被他父亲买下, who had produced mohair from Angora goats there. To replace the native Merriam’s elk that had been hunted out of the Guadalupes by the 1880s, the elder 猎人 had 47 elk shipped in 1928 from a refuge in South Dakota to the land. Roaming the park now are more than 500 descendants of those elk.

猎人, who shared his father’s concern for the preservation of the natural resources of the land, arranged for the land to be sold to the federal government to establish what is now the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. 包括76,293英亩, the park includes the four highest peaks in 德州, 并保护了许多动物, 植物, 化石, 自然和历史文物.

亨特和他的妻子, 玛丽, spent their retirement years traveling and visiting with their children and grandchildren. 他给他们的孙子们做玩具, 教他们开船, which was affectionately named MiMi in honor of 玛丽.

在20世纪80年代, they began spending about half of each year at their home in Montecito, 加州, to be near their daughter’s home in Santa Barbara. In October 1985 while on a visit with his daughter, 亨特生病住院了, dying a month later after two surgeries for cancer.

猎人 left behind a legacy that has blessed the citizens of Abilene, 大陆博彩平台的大家庭, and the inhabitants of the great state of 德州.

It is the high honor of Hardin-Simmons University to recognize one of her own and to formally induct 小杰西·科尔曼·亨特. 进入哈佛大学领导大厅.