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Cornelius Hunter

March 16, 2018
Kalamazoo, MI

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Cornelius Wood Hunter, "Neil," age 96, passed away Friday, March 16, 2018, in Kalamazoo, Michigan after a bout with the flu. He was born February 11, 1922 to George and Cornelia (Mather) Hunter in Adrian, Michigan, the oldest of three children. Neil grew up in Port Huron, Michigan where his father was the Managing Editor of the Port Huron Tribune. He was an Eagle Scout and matriculated to Duke University to study English. After the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, Neil enlisted in the military. He was assigned to Army Intelligence, and analyzed aerial photography of enemy positions in the Pacific theater. Though not actively engaged in battle, Neil's unit was often not far from the front lines, in Guadalcanal, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippine Islands, where he witnessed many of the horrors of war. Neil contracted malaria, and late in the war was injured in a Japanese bombing raid when he was unable to reach the safety of a foxhole by mere seconds before a bomb detonated nearby. Neil sustained partial blindness in one eye and was sent to San Francisco on a hospital ship. He was awarded the Purple Heart. Significantly, Neil sustained post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the post WWII years there was little understanding of PTSD, and Neil battled it on his own for many years. Neil married Mary Ann Poucher of Adrian, Michigan, in 1947 and began a long career in journalism. His first newspaper job was in Tecumseh, Michigan, but he soon moved to the Lansing State Journal where he built a reputation as a reporter who connected with everyone from the local farmer to luminaries such as Nelson Rockefeller and a young athlete named Earvin Johnson, later the great Magic Johnson. In 1966 Neil wrote an acclaimed series of newspaper articles on stress and anxiety. This was before such topics were openly discussed, and the series was appreciated by many readers. Neil also became prominent in the local horse racing community. He wrote a weekly "Hunter on Horses" column for the State Journal, and worked as Communications Director at Jackson and later Northville race tracks. Neil maintained he flunked retirement. The proof was his purchase of two weekly newspapers: The Clinton Local, in Clinton, Michigan and the Twin Cities News in Plainwell, Michigan. A popular feature was Neil's weekly column "Straight Ahead" in which his humor, eccentricity, and love of people was always on display. After Mary Ann's death in 1994, Neil moved to Brown County, Indiana where he fulfilled a life-long dream of owning a farm. In addition to improving a rambling property in Nashville, Indiana, he taught school where he was known as a classroom favorite. In 2016 his second wife, Anna Kay Campbell died and Neil returned to Michigan to be closer to family. Among the many things Neil will be remembered for are his creativity, unique sense of humor, and photographic memory. Without preparation he could recite long poems he had read many years before. Neil is survived by his daughters Elizabeth Ann Hunter of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mary Paula Hunter (Richard Meckel) of Providence, Rhode Island, Margaret Louise Hunter (Rolland Morse) of Kalamazoo, Michigan; son Cornelius George Hunter (Jeanine Hunter) of Cameron Park, California; grandchildren Katherine and Peter Meckel, Andreea Hunter, Lauren, Daniel, and Grace Hunter; and numerous nieces and nephews. Neil was preceded in death by his parents, brother Merrill Hunter, and sister Carol Taylor. Whitley Memorial Funeral Home, Kalamazoo. http://whitleymemorialfuneralhome.com/