Gloria Hunt, community leader, dies at 102

Gloria Sonia Johnson (Hunt) died on May 5, 2023, at the age of 102.

She was born to Claudine Virginia Tate (Johnson) and Edward Johnson of Virginia on Dec. 17, 1920, at Sloane Hospital for Women in Harlem.

She took pride in being a “city girl” and would frequently share a story about rejecting the farmland that her Black and Native American father’s family had offered her sometime in the 1940s.

Her reason for declining it—she wasn’t be able to deal with the loose chickens she saw and the outhouse she was expected to use during her one and only trip to visit the farm.

Hunt was a graduate of both the controversial, yet groundbreaking, Wadleigh High School for Girls and Drake Business School. She was feisty, funny, dynamic, and sharp. She loved to get dressed up, wear makeup, and preach the virtues of lathering your face with Vaseline at night to avoid wrinkles. This was the secret to her youthful appearance.

Her places of employment included Western Union, typing up telegrams and singing some of them too. She worked at the Country Day School as a teaching assistant. She fostered teen mothers, unwed mothers-to-be and their children for many years through Inwood House in Manhattan.

After that she ran an in-home daycare center that offered extended hours to support working parents. Dozens of Lakeview residents and families in surrounding communities enjoyed her antics as their babysitter. Everyone who knew Gloria had stories about her and those stories demonstrate that she loved life, loved people, was generous and lived every moment to the fullest.

She was involved in many community and civic organizations. Gloria was a charter member of the North Lakeview Lions Club. She also held various offices as a member of Key Women of America – Lakeview Branch for well over 40 years. She was a member of the Lakeview NAACP, past president of the Lakeview Senior’s Group, and president of the Resident Council at Grand Pavilion Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Rockville Centre until her death.

Hunt was a member of the American Legion Hall in West Hempstead, the Sandel Senior Center in Rockville Centre and she had a church home at The Chruch of Good Shepherd in West Hempstead, before becoming a proud member of Shiloh Baptist Church in Rockville Centre.

Gloria married Harold Hilton Hunt, and had one child, Claudine Sharon Hunt, who she nicknamed “Deanie” and was the light of her life. Claudine later married and had a daughter, Felicia Claudine Hunt, who Gloria adored and would refer to as “Granny’s little angel.” Felicia gave birth to Elyjah Rah McKoy and later married and gave birth to Ayaba Adora Ase. Hunt took pride in both of her great-grandchildren and spoke with them as much as possible and kept up with their talents and interest.

Hunt never missed an opportunity to tell others they are loved, give them a word of encouragement or advice, or share a funny story—even in the nursing home. She was a bright and brilliant lady and exemplar of Christian love, who was fondly known as “Granny” and “Mother Hunt” by family and community members alike.

She was a dedicated mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and community advocate. She is survived by Felicia, Elyjah, Ayaba, and many friends and community members.