Larry Hunt October 12, 1921 - September 28, 1981

Today I drift away from politics and into the personal for a post. If you have noticed there is a Black Panther on the right side of the blog page. That is the unit that my grandfather was a member during World War 2. If you click on that picture you can read a post I wrote about an event which happened to his unit during the war.

Everybody has a mentor and some sort of hero. Larry Hunt (Grandpa) was mine. I was very young when he passed away, but I still think WWGD (What Would Grandpa Do?) when I make decisions.

Grandpa was very quite and a very hard worker. He was wounded on June 20th just after the war with Europe was over. He was wounded by an accidental shooting in the barracks while a fellow Panther was cleaning his rifle.

Grandpa was an Ombudsman for Public Service (remember Public Service?) and when he wasn't working or "on call" with them he hauled oil to and from Brush, Colorado and Denver. In his "spare time" he was a volunteer fire fighter. He never stopped. Ever.

I was always in awe of the work he did. I've seen him shimmy up a power pole in seconds with spikes to install a light. He gave me a personalized trip to the yard where his truck was stored. I got the privileged to ride with him in his truck from the parking space to the fueling pumps. It wasn't a long trip but a good one.

On the weekends when he wasn't working, and I am sure exhausted, He would take "naps" in on the living room floor. He would rest his head in his arms, his knees on the floor and his grand kids would slide down his back.

I remember a move my family made from Montrose to Sterling (about 400 miles). It was the middle of winter. Grandpa drove that U-Haul truck over Monarch Pass in the snow to Sterling. We unloaded the truck and he drove it back to Montrose the same day. I was in awe.

So this is just a post to say Happy Birthday Grandpa, I miss you.