By Brian Zanzonico
He quietly helped gather support for his wife when she made a successful bid for Malverne mayor in 1987. He supplied the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps with a new stretcher when they so desperately needed one in the 1980s.
Jim Hunt may have enjoyed staying in the background, but his big heart always brought him to the fore. That heart betrayed him when he was just 45, and gave him a litany of health problems over the next 13 years. On May 9, Hunt died of a stroke, six years after his second heart attack. He was 58.
"He loved all his Malverne friends from way back when, his produce buddies who he became like brothers with, his new friends here at the church," said daughter Lori Lang. "His family, who he found both repentance for and forgiveness toward, and my mom's family, who he thanked God for and thought of as sisters."
Hunt leaves behind his wife, Cathy, his daughters, Lori and Bridget, his son, James, and his grandchildren, Jake, 2, and Ava, 2 months.
Hunt grew up in Astoria, Queens, and Amityville, and was raised into a trucking business distributing produce. After serving for three years in Vietnam, he came home and went to work for his father. In 1971, he married, and he and Cathy began a life in Malverne that would last 33 years.
Hunt worked long, grueling hours after he purchased his own Bronx-based produce business in 1984, but he found time to attend college and earn a degree in political science. "He did not view college as an option for us - he viewed it as our path for the future," Lang said. "My dad used to have a famous line when we showed him a good grade. 'What happened to the other 5 or 10 points?' He always wanted us to do the best we could, and if we could say that, then that was all he needed to hear. He was so proud of his children and the fact that we all went to college, did well and had the experience young in our lives."
In recent years, health issues forced Hunt to take a back seat in the Hunt's Point Produce Market, which sells wholesale produce to small grocery chains and delis. He handed most of the operating duties off to son James, whom he coached for years in the Malverne Little League. But everyone pitched in at one point or another.
"My brother, sister and I spent many summers and school breaks helping out and filling in for people over the years," Lori said. "We recently turned the place into a day care, using the office as both a business place and a virtual play school for my children two or three days a week. Talk about family togetherness."
Cathy was a stay-at-home mother. But when Lori, her oldest, turned 13, Hunt encouraged Cathy to take a more active role in the community they loved. She was already a member of the village's beautification committee, and was involved with the public schools and Moms of Malverne. Armed with a political science degree, Hunt suggested that Cathy take a shot at running for mayor.
"He was more behind the scenes, a quiet man, getting signatures on petitions, getting people to vote for her," Lori said. The effort paid off. Cathy was elected mayor in 1987, and served until 1991. "She turned that position into a full-time job," Lang said of her mother. "She was at village hall five days a week."
In 1992, Hunt, a longtime smoker, suffered his first heart attack. He quit smoking cold turkey and starting taking a lesser role in his business in order to enjoy life more. He underwent a series of operations and had to take a slew of medications. But he was always in high spirits.
"Over the years, we created many affectionate pet names for some of his side effects and operations," Lang said. "He was always bumping into things after losing some sight in his left eye, so we started calling him left eye. When he had his pacemaker/defibrillator put in, we started calling him the bionic man."
After suffering his second heart attack and a stroke six years ago, Hunt rediscovered God and realized how fortunate he was to overcome two brushes with death. He and Cathy became regulars at Church of the Intercessor in Malverne. "He really loved this church, and the goodness and the kindness of the people that he worshipped with every Sunday," Lang said. "He would often say, these people really walk the walk and that's what life is really all about."
Lang said that a running family joke began the night Hunt said over dinner that he and Cathy were volunteering to teach Sunday school for nursery-school children. "My dad with 20 kids 2 to 4 years old for two hours," Lang said. "That is just priceless."
Lang said her father had a special place in his heart for her 2-year-old son, Jake. "He loved to bring Jake produce every day," she said. "This child actually asks for apples, melon, tomatoes and cucumbers on a daily basis. Jake loves going to 'worky-turkey' to steal everything off his Papa's desk, touch the buttons on every machine, play with all the keys and sit across from his Papa and bang on the IBM 'puter' while talking on the phone just like his Papa did."
In lieu of flowers, the Hunts request either donations to the Malverne Volunteer Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 43, or the Church of the Intercessor (Forging the Future), St. Thomas Place, Malverne NY 11565. Donations to the church will be earmarked for the creation of a new school.
Comments about this story? Mal-wheditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
