William “Bill” Hunt, 79, of The Villages, Florida passed away on July 28, 2020. He was born in Akron, Ohio and was preceded in death by his mother, Emily Hunt, and his adoptive parents, Lawrence and Ethel Hunt.
He is survived by his wife Margie Raub Hunt and his sons, Brian of Cincinnati, OH; Todd of Oak Park, CA; and Mark (Chandler) of Greenville, SC. He had five grandchildren: Gage, Olivia, Tyler, Dylan, and Kathleen, and a great-granddaughter, Audrey Mae.
Bill was a very humble, devoted, and professional mathematics teacher in Ohio. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Akron, where he was proud to be the Vice-President of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He received his master’s degree in mathematics from Cleveland State University and taught 30 years at Mayfield High School in Mayfield, Ohio. Because of his dedication to his students, his school, and the state of Ohio, he received numerous awards and proclamations.
Bill received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching personally from President Ronald Reagan in 1983. This was the first year that this award was given to one individual in each of the 50 United States. Bill became the President of CPAM, the national group of presidential awardees in mathematics, as well as, President of OCTM. Bill also received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Cleveland State University, the Tandy Technology Scholar Award, and in 2016 the Greater Cleveland Mathematics Award for a “Lifetime of Mathematics Education.”
In 1999, Bill and his wife, Margie, received the Christofferson-Fawcett Award, the top mathematics award in Ohio for “inspiration and devotion to education in mathematics.” He and Margie worked together on numerous projects: editors of the Problem Solving section of the NCTM publication, The Mathematics Teacher; mathematics consultants for WVIZ projects, one of which received an Emmy; OCTM newsletter editors for 11 years; and executive directors for SSMA—all mathematics groups.
Besides teaching 30 years at Mayfield High School, he taught at Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University, and Kent State University. For 11 years he taught part-time at Mesifta, the Hebrew Academy in Cleveland.
Bill could never sit still. Among his part-time jobs, he did the following: sold real estate, sold Fuller Brush, was a Pinkerton guard; taught summer school in Hawaii; drove a 100 mile route to deliver the daily Geauga Leader newspaper in rural Geauga County; directed the Rolling-Y-Ranch for 60 teenagers and 48 horses (He was not really a rider, so he said he had to fake his riding ability).
After Bill’s retirement from high school teaching, he taught mathematics to retired military personnel at John Carroll University.
Then, Bill discovered The Villages, and that is all he wanted. He moved to The Villages with Margie in 2000. In The Villages he learned to play golf and enjoyed many days golfing with dear friends. He also had an opportunity to play his beloved bridge again in the Village of Palo Alto. He belonged to the Palo Alto Club and planned a yearly golf scramble for members. He became President of the Educators Retired Club and a neighborhood representative for the VHA. He played in a monthly euchre group, a hand & foot group, a bunco group, and a weekly and monthly bridge group. He loved The Villages and was quite the salesman to others.
A funeral Mass will be in The Villages on Tuesday, August 11 at St. Timothy’s Church at 8:30 A.M. A celebration of life memorial service will be planned sometime in the future. Instead of flowers, please make donations to: The Children’s Heart Foundation, 5 Revere Dr., One Northbrook Place, Suite 200, Northbrook, IL 60062-1500 or Allagille Syndrome Alliance, P.O. Box 22, Collierville, TN 38027.
