"Surely that home is strongest and most beautiful in which we find each person sensitive to the feelings of others, striving to serve others, striving to live at home the principles we demonstrate in more public settings." - General conference, April 1, 1960
Though President Howard W. Hunter was a man who carried an aura of dignity, vigor and prophetic vision, he also was a warm and caring husband, father and grandfather who was right at home fixing a leaky sink, carving the Thanksgiving turkey or gently counseling his family.
He always made time for his two sons and their wives, 18 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren, and he lived and loved at home consistent with what he practiced and preached in public.
Both of his sons - John, a judge in Ventura County, California; and Richard, an attorney in San Jose, Calif. - recalled their growing up years and the devotion of their father to their late mother, Claire Jeffs Hunter.
Howard W. Hunter and Claire Jeffs were sealed June 10, 1931, in the Salt Lake Temple after having traveled to Utah from Southern California for their marriage.
Indicative of his commitment to marriage and family that would mark the remainder of his life, President Hunter had played his last dance job as a musician four days earlier, on June 6. He had determined that his music was not compatible with the lifestyle he wanted for his new bride and future children, and set his instruments aside permanently to embark on a new season of life.
"He was an extraordinary musician," said Richard. "He played the wind instruments - the saxophone and clarinet - trumpet, the violin, piano, marimba and the drums. He was gifted at all these, but I think his favorite was the clarinet.
"However, he determined that he wanted to be home evenings with his family, to be able to serve in the Church. Because he loved his music so much, he determined the only way to enter this next phase of his life was to leave it entirely. In our home growing up, Dad had available the classics, and we always had music in our home. I remember listening to the classics and fell in love with them as a result of him and his love for music."
Richard and his wife, Nan, said that last fall when President Hunter moved from his long-time Salt Lake City home into a downtown apartment, they came across all of his musical instruments. They gave some of them to the Church Historical Department with President Hunter's permission, but when they came to his clarinet, he said, "No, I can't give up my clarinet."
Nan said: "He started to cry. Here was this sweet, gentle man crying about the thought of parting with his clarinet. Until that moment, I don't think I completely realized how much his music meant to him and how hard it was to give up something that he absolutely loved."
Howard and Claire Hunter started their lives together living in a furnished apartment overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Hermosa Beach. Soon afterward, they moved to a three-room unfurnished house near the bank where President Hunter worked in Hawthorne, Calif.
The couple had been counseled at their marriage to stay out of debt and were committed to do so. A sense of thrift and a tenacious work ethic carried throughout President Hunter's life.
"One thing that has always impressed me about Dad was that he was a hard worker, right up to the very end," remembered John. "He really wasn't happy unless he was working. I know that he continued to do Church work in his apartment until two or three days before he died. Being at home and incapacitated was extremely hard for him."
President Hunter and Claire worked hard during their early years and made ends meet, in spite of the challenges of the Great Depression. He worked at a variety of odd jobs for a couple of years before working at the First Exchange State Bank and then in the title department of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. It was his experience in the title department that fueled his desire to obtain a law degree, which he did by attending night law school at Southwestern University, entering school in September 1935 and graduating in June 1939. He went on to build a very successful private law practice.
During those years in law school, while working for the Flood Control District, the Hunters were able to purchase a five-room house in Alhambra. They later moved into a larger home on the border of Alhambra and Los Angeles, and in 1948 purchased a ranch-style home in Arcadia.
During those early years, three sons were born to the Hunters, and President Hunter was called - much to his surprise - as bishop of the El Sereno Ward at age 32, beginning a period of Church leadership in his life that would include service as Pasadena Stake president and, subsequently, his call as an apostle in 1959.
Sadly, the first son born to the Hunters, Howard William Jr., died after surgery at about seven months on Oct. 11, 1934. John Jacob was born May 4, 1936; and Richard Allen entered the world June 29, 1938.
Both John and Richard, with their respective spouses, Louine and Nan, spoke of the gentle, thoughtful and conscientious manner in which President Hunter interacted with his family members - immediate and extended - throughout his life.
Both sons recounted taking a Scouting kayaking trip with their father down the Rogue River in Oregon when they were young men. "Dad always wanted to make sure that the adventures we had, we did together," said Richard. "We went on some Boy Scout trips together, some fathers and sons outings and did a lot of things together as a family."
John noted that his father would often, during these experiences and otherwise, take advantage of teaching moments. During the kayak trip, the group encountered some rough going and had their kayaks busted up and lost some of their supplies. "We were out on a sand bar one night and were trying to figure out what to do. He took the opportunity to tell the story of Job and all of Job's troubles. It was the perfect teaching moment, and everyone I know who was on that trip remembers the story of Job and all his suffering. Dad was able to get his point across at just the right time."
The sons recalled how, with his busy schedule and many demands, their father would still take them camping frequently enough so they could earn their camping merit badges.
Throughout his lifetime, President Hunter would often juggle his many demands so he could support his family. When Richard was called as a bishop in San Jose, he wanted his father to set him apart. President Hunter was going to pass through San Francisco on an assignment to the Pacific, so Richard was ordained and set apart as a bishop in the United Airlines terminal between flight connections.
"I asked Dad a month or so ago if there was any civilized place in the world where he hadn't been," said Richard. "He stopped and thought about that for a moment and said, `No, I don't think there is.' "
His sons and daughters-in-law recalled his gentle parenting and leadership style. Both men had particularly memorable experiences in their boyhoods where their father gave them some latitude and demonstrated his trust in them.
Both also expressed admiration for their father's courage in the face of his severe physical challenges. Richard spoke of his father's "grit," his ability to endure great amounts of pain that accompanied his various physical afflictions. "Some nights were just filled with pain. We would go up in the morning and say, Dad, how are you doing?' He would say,Fine,' and we knew very well that he was not fine, that he suffered a lot. This last year was a year filled with pain, and his pain medication in many instances was an over-the-counter tablet. I'm not quite sure how he did that except through sheer determination and blessings he received. He gritted his teeth and went through it because he wanted to be able to function in his call."
In spite of his own difficulties, President Hunter would always express concern for others and see to it that their needs were met. Perhaps nowhere was that more evident than in his care for his first wife, Claire, when she became ill.
She suffered from a lingering illness for many years before she died. Recounted Louine: "Dad was her loving caretaker, and I doubt that ever a man was more patient, caring, sensitive and thoughtful than he was during those difficult years.
"When he could no longer take her with him when he traveled, he hired live-in help to care for her during the day, but he always took over her care when he returned home at night, which meant getting up several times during the night and sleeping very little. He kept this up until he had a heart attack and his doctor said if he didn't get night help for Claire, he wouldn't survive to take care of her.
"Unfortunately, Claire spent her last 18 months in a nursing facility, in a coma, and although it was a long drive from his office, Dad visited twice a day. When he was away on Church trips, he would call and discuss the positives of her condition. To the very end he did what few - if any - men have been called upon to do, to combine the endless duties and travels of an apostle with the constant care of his wife. It was a remarkable love story."
John summed up his feelings about his father's life and service, while noting how many people have recently shared with the family countless little instances of acts of kindness rendered by their father that the family never knew anything about.
"His life was like a meteor. It traveled very, very fast over an extended period of time, and then when he became president of the Church, it was like hitting the atmosphere. He was brilliant, and then gone."
