Robert S. Hunt 1917-1990

HUNT, LEERS

Posted By: Sharyl Ferrall (email)
Date: 4/10/2007 at 04:36:52

ROBERT S. HUNT, 73, LAW PROFESSOR
Anyone who graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in the past 20 years knew of Robert S. Hunt.

And it was not just because he taught the required course in professional responsibility. He had a memorable personality as well.

A friend remembers him as a soft touch for the occasional personal loan to a student and as a man who knew countless songs by heart, which he would sing out as he drove in his car.

Mr. Hunt died at his Seattle home Friday at age 73.

A memorial service is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at the School of Law in Condon Hall, 1100 N.E. Campus Parkway.

Mr. Hunt's life took him from small-town Iowa to the halls of academe, to the shores of North Africa during World War II and in his later years to France, where he married a second time in his 60s.

He was born July 14, 1917 - Bastille Day, his French-born wife observed - in Postville, Iowa. An only child, he was the son of teachers. His father became superintendent of the local school district, and his mother taught music.

Mr. Hunt graduated with honors from Oberlin College, earned a master's degree in history from Harvard University and, in 1947, earned his law degree from Yale University. He was editor of the Yale Law Journal.

He went on to earn a doctorate in law from the University of Wisconsin in 1952. His dissertation on the history of railroad law eventually was published as a book.

When World War II interrupted his education, Mr. Hunt served with the U.S. Navy in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. He emerged from the war a lieutenant commander.

For a number of years after earning his doctorate, he practiced in a Chicago firm, specializing in land-use and securities law.

Mr. Hunt joined the UW Law School faculty in 1966. He taught law courses in land-use planning (he had served on the Cook County Board of Zoning Appeals while working in Chicago), securities and professional responsibility. He also served five years as the school's associate dean.

The course on professional responsibility, a class on ethics, was required, so Mr. Hunt taught virtually the entire third-year class each year.

``He was a very warm person,'' said Mary Ann Andersen, who with her husband, William Andersen, one of Mr. Hunt's law-faculty colleagues, was a family friend.

``A friend has observed that Bob was one of those rare people who was a gifted athlete and Phi Beta Kappa at the same time,'' said Mrs. Andersen.

Mr. Hunt was active in skiing, golf and swimming all his life.

He also enjoyed the opera, ballet and, in particular, American musical comedy.

``He was an extraordinarily learned fellow,'' said William Andersen. ``He could quote from all the great literature, but he managed to do so without being heavy. He was charming.''

Mr. Hunt retired from the Law School in 1986.

In a statement released this week, Wallace Loh, the dean of the Law School, said: ``To me, (Mr. Hunt) was a gallant and kind-hearted colleague; to generations of students, Bob was a special and generous friend. For those of us whose lives have been graced by knowing him, we shall miss him greatly.''

In 1984, Mr. Hunt married French-born Claudette Marie Leers, who taught English and French here. They divided their time between Seattle and his wife's hometown of Lyons, France.

``Claudette loved the United States, and Bob loved France, so it was a great match,'' said Mary Ann Andersen.

Besides his wife, Mr. Hunt is survived by his wife's four children, Marie-France Imberton, Bothell, Martine Imberton, Paris, and Paul-Louis Imberton and Francois Imberton, both of Lyons. He also is survived by cousins in Portland and California

~THE SEATTLE TIMES, November 7, 1990
by JOE HABERSTROH

~note: transcriber is not related