Necrology

James Clark Hunt '64

Aug. 10, 1942-Mar. 1, 2020

James Clark Hunt ’64, the valedictorian of his Hamilton class, went on to success in two careers — education and law. Born on Aug. 10, 1942, a son of Harold and Ruth Clark Hunt, he grew up in Oneonta, N.Y.

On College Hill, Hunt joined Delta Phi fraternity and majored in history. He participated in Student Senate, WHCL radio, and the German Club, and earned the McKinney Public Speaking Prize. He spent his entire junior year studying in Germany.

After graduating from Hamilton with Phi Beta Kappa honors, Hunt went on to Harvard University where he earned his Ph.D. in modern European history. In addition to his dissertation, “The People’s Party in Wurttemberg and Southern Germany, 1890-1914,” which explored the political behaviors of peasants in southern Germany, he published many scholarly articles through the years.

Following another year in Germany, this time as a Fulbright Fellow, he joined the faculty of Emmanuel College in Boston. Next came teaching positions in Maine at St. Francis College (now the University of New England) and St. Joseph’s College.

During his time in Germany teaching at the University of Bonn, Hunt found himself embroiled in a dispute between the president and the faculty. “I took a major lead in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to unionize the college,” he recalled in his Hamilton 50th reunion yearbook. “So, I’ve also spent my time on the picket line.”

In the early 1980s, Hunt embarked on a second career after friends persuaded him to go to law school. He graduated in 1985 from the University of Maine School of Law and served for a year as a clerk to Caroline Glassman, the first woman appointed to the Maine Supreme Court. Hunt called Portland, Maine, home, and for the remainder of his career he practiced law, primarily in civil litigation, with the firm Robertson, Krieger, and McCallum.

According to a published obituary, “Jim was committed to helping others through his profession, his work as a founding member of Portland’s first Amnesty International chapter, as a board member and chair of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, and with the Maine Humanities Council.”

Hunt, an animal lover and voracious reader, died on March 1, 2020, at the age of 78. He is survived by Emmy Hoffmann, his wife of 53 years, two daughters, and three grandchildren.

Necrology Home