"This lovely lady, Inis Egan Hunter, brought a sparkle back into President Hunter's life," President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Council of the Twelve, said in a recent interview with the Church News about the prophet's wife.
"She is a very vivacious woman who loves to travel. That complemented his interests because he always enjoyed traveling, even when it was very difficult for him to get on and off planes. Nevertheless, he enjoyed going out and meeting the Saints, and she enjoyed being with him. In a very real way, she made it possible for him to continue as long as he did. They traveled together on assignments all over the world."President Howard W. Hunter had been widowed more than six years when he married Inis Egan in the Salt Lake Temple on April 12, 1990. They had met in 1945, when he was bishop of the El Sereno Ward in California, where she was then residing. After his first wife, Clara May (Claire) Jeffs Hunter died in 1983, President Hunter and Inis renewed their acquaintanceship.
The Church News interviewed Sister Hunter last June shortly after President Hunter became president of the Church. (See Church News, June 25, 1994.) At that time, Sister Hunter spoke of her efforts to help keep President Hunter from trying to do more than he was able.
"I have to watch him so he won't overdo things," she said at that time, mentioning his desire to meet as many people in person as he could, to shake their hands, to visit ward and stake meetings wherever they were.
She spoke of the love she saw members extend to her husband during their travels. "We went to Fiji when he was president of the Twelve and attended a function at the Church College there," she said. "After the meeting, the Relief Society sisters had prepared a dinner for us in the school's recreation hall. As we walked around the building, we saw the Relief Society ladies standing there, waiting to shake his hand. When one lady shook his hand, she just sobbed and sobbed. I realized then what it meant to people outside the United States to see and hear him. She stood there crying; he hugged her. It was a beautiful experience, to see how much people loved him."
President and Sister Hunter shared many interests, besides traveling. "Music has meant a lot to both of us. As you know, he had his own band when he was young, and he played just about every instrument. I have always loved music, and I've always felt music very deeply. When I was in Primary, I would sing the Primary songs to the top of my voice. I just loved singing. I always wanted to be a singer. I couldn't afford to take voice lessons, but people gave me encouragement along the way."
As a young girl, she sang at home and then, with her sister, was invited to sing in Church meetings. As she grew older, her performing venue expanded. In high school, she had a lead role in an opera and, as an adult, she sang with such groups as the Pasadena Choral Ensemble and the Southern California Mormon Choir.
Sister Hunter spoke of President Hunter's illnesses, the "ups and downs" of his health. "I think everybody gets really tired," she said. "It has been a hard thing, but it seems that many of the prophets go through this kind of experience. President Kimball, President Benson and now Howard.
"It has been a blessing to me to be able to serve him. I've waited on him; I've done all I could do, but I've felt I haven't done enough, that I haven't given enough service. He has been so sweet and patient. I've never heard him complain.
"He has said, `I wish I could walk so I could help you. I wish I could do the dishes for you.' He has said things like that. He is the sweetest man who ever lived," she said in the June interview with the Church News.
