{"id":2769,"date":"2020-08-21T15:45:57","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T15:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sigmaclubalumni.com\/underconstruction\/?page_id=2769"},"modified":"2020-08-22T20:51:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T20:51:52","slug":"butch-hunt","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sigmaclubalumni.com\/underconstruction\/butch-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Butch Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Many of you knew Butch Hunt from your association with him on campus back in the late 1960s, and some of you got to know him after college through personal flights with him in his airplane. Butch was truly one of a kind guy. If there were four people in a room talking amongst themselves, but only three of them actually saying anything, the one quiet person always seemed to be Butch. Though quiet at times, Butch was a caring and warm guy to be around. I can honestly say that I never heard Butch utter a harsh word against anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was thinking about the summer of 1967, one of those times when I was making up credits from my disastrous first semester on campus back in 1965-66 when I had been ill advised to take Junior Calculus and Advance Physics, and I vaguely remember that I shared a room in Napier with Butch for one of the very short summer sessions. I’d like to tell you about all the things we discussed in the evenings, but it just wasn’t so. I can’t even remember one good, in-depth conversation that we shared. He was just there, quietly reading or pondering at his desk while I was cramming for tests and finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will always remember Butch fondly. I know all of you feel the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wayne Burdette – SIGMA ’68<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Butch\nHunt will always be a super dude who has that dry humor that makes you stop and\nsay, \u201cwhat did you say?\u201d  Then all is in laughter as that humor is there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Butch talked me into flying\nwith him to Livingston Univ. one day to pick up a friend of his.  The\nflight was in a twin engine something or nother and Butch handled that plane\nlike a pro.  I would not hesitate to fly with Butch any where in any plane\nat any time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are the best!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayers are with you Butch. Bill S <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hey\nLightning, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First\n of all, I want to say that the news about your illness really hit me\nhard…a real gut punch. Since I got that word, I have tried to formulate in my\nmind  a message to you. I mulled over several thoughts and formats, and I\nfinally opted for a simple  thank you note. There are entirely too many\nthings to cover, so I\u2019ll just hit a few highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\nThank you, Butch, for the occasional extra scoop of ice cream in the milk\nshakes you made while serving as the \u201csoda jerk\u201d (among other things) at Jake\nVaughn\u2019s drug store in Bluff Park. Next to you, Jake was about the nicest guy\nin town. Of course, that was back in the good old days when drug stores were\ncalled, of all things, drug stores…not pharmacies! And they were owned and\noperated by one person who actually cared about his customers! The poor kids of\ntoday don\u2019t even know what a soda jerk is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\nThank you, Butch, for all the rides to and from Berry High when you drove the\nbig yellow bus. Especially memorable are the times you would \u201cgun it\u201d on the\nAlford Avenue hill. Man, that was more fun than an E ticket ride at Disney\nWorld. You know, I don\u2019t recall that you received any phone calls from angry\nparents complaining about the safety of their children. Of course, the closest\nthing we had to \u201cinstant video\u2019 was an 8mm camera, and not many kids carried\nthose around. In our world today, images of poor little Billy bouncing off the\nceiling in the back of the bus would be airing on channel 13 before we got home\nfrom school. I do miss those good old days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\nThank you, Butch, for all the flights from the Shelby County airport, where we\nboth worked for a while. I think we went to all the major airports in Alabama,\nalong with several of the minor ones. I really enjoyed the night flight up to\nBirmingham and getting close enough to the Vulcan statue to shake his hand. I\nremember looking at all the lit up instruments on the plane\u2019s panel and asking\nhow you could glance at them and tell where you were. \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d you replied.\n\u201cI\u2019ll just look down and follow Hwy 31 back to Shelby County.\u201d The possibility\nof heavy clouds crossed my mind, but I didn\u2019t mention it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\nThanks, Butch, for being my friend and my brother. I shall cherish the\ncountless memories we made together.  And thanks, Butch, for allowing me a\nfew minutes to reminisce. God\u2019s speed, my brother, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BUIB,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fluger<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thank\nyou for this update on Butch as of Thursday and for all time forward. Being\nready to Be There is all that really matters in life. Sometimes this isn\u2019t\nknown until the time left for us is known. What you have shared about Butch\nreminds me a lot of Jackie D. I was back and forth to Atlanta frequently after\nmy cornea and lens transplants and as fate (NO, Divine Providence) would have\nit, I had to be there three days back to back while Jack was in the hospital\nless than 15 minutes from the hotel where Dianne and I stayed. The second\nevening visit with Jack found him very uncomfortable ( handled with his nurse)\nand ready to go Home. Ours was a were special and tender conversation. I knew\nhe knew the Way. No doubt about it. We each prayed and I left telling him I\nwould see him in the morning as I was going by early before my appointment at\n9:00am.  I arrived at his room and a nurse was just finishing fluffing the\npillow and placing it on the bed. She asked if she could help me and I said I\nhad come to see Jack. He left the room earlier that morning and my last words\nto him rang in my ears. \u201cI\u2019ll See You In The Morning.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you know me well, you know how I love Southern Gospel Music (and Sacred Harp) and all I could hear was James Blackwood and the Blackwood Brothers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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