Greatest Generation (born 1901 to 1927)
 
Ethel Patricia Clark-Hunt was born in Bramwell, West Virginia on July 14, 1927 to Ruth Cansler-Clark and Edgar Clark. She was the oldest of nine children and lived in West Virginia the first year of life. After her grandmother, Clyde Cansler, died in 1927, the family relocated to Clarksville in her father’s hometown of Glade Springs, Virginia. Affectionately called “Patsy” throughout her childhood, she embraced the name “Pat” as a young woman.
 
Pat attended the Glade Springs Colored Elementary School and Abington High School. During the mid-1940s the Clark family moved to Roanoke, Virginia. After WWII ended, in 1946, Pat met and fell in love with the man of her dreams, the late, John William Hunt aka “Jack.” Jack left the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Big Apple to study commercial art in New York City. It was during this time that love letters were exchanged and as the expression goes, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Pat and Jack eloped in 1947 and made their home in Brooklyn, New York.
 
The proud mother of eight children, Pat was devoted to her family. She was a stay at home mom, a wonderful homemaker and a fantastic cook, known throughout the neighborhood for her homemade rolls, cakes, pies and very popular peach and apple cobblers. Once you had a taste of her delectable dishes, you understood why people waited in line with plate in hand.
 
Pat and her husband believed in community service. She baked sixteen dozen rolls for the Boy Scouts annual luncheon and enjoyed working with Jack on costumes, and set design, for the community’s Christmas Nativity show each year. She strongly believed that you could not survive in New York without being rooted in the community, and the church.
 
Southern values, and the foundation of the biblical principles of the Ten Commandments, prevailed in Pat’s household. As a result, her family belonged to the neighborhood church, New Hope Baptist, under the direction of Reverend Sawyer. In 1969, the family joined First Baptist Church of Crown Heights, with Reverend Clarence Norman, Sr. presiding.
 
A proud member of the order of the Eastern Stars Sarah Chapter in Brooklyn, Pat was also an active advocate for the 1965 voter register campaign during the civil rights movement, an effort that was principally led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her grassroots work included, going door to door, educating and empowering people to exercise their right to vote. Pat was also a member of the Democratic Women’s Club, a life member and delegate for the Virginia State Baptist Convention, a life member of the NAACP; a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) New York City Chapter and a member of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage Hereditary Society.
 
After many years of devoting her life’s work to her family, she too was personally motivated to work outside of the home and took her first job at the Brooklyn Public Library. Always a woman of style, grace and a strong fashion sense, Patricia later worked at the prestigious Saks Fifth Avenue department store and loved seeing movie stars, including Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Crawford, as they shopped. In 1971, Pat came into her true calling when she began working for the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation’s Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. While working in the radiology department, Pat was the first face most patients saw and she enjoyed helping them feel at ease as they contemplated important medical procedures.
 
In 1984, after retirement, Pat and Jack traded the Big Apple life for the Blue Ridge Mountains and moved back to Roanoke, VA where they rejoined their southern family, including the Clark’s, Hunt’s and Bundick’s. They loved being back home, living closer to her parents, and enjoyed the life they shared as they grew older.
 
Pat and Jack joined Pilgrim Baptist Church, in 1989, and “Sister Hunt” was a faithful servant of the Missionary Board, Hospitality Committee and was a member of the Progressive Adult Club. She also belonged to the Valley Baptist Missionary Council, and in 2003 won second place in the Annual Valley Baptist Queen Pageant. As a child, Pat participated in numerous church recitals, which grew into her love for public speaking. She was called upon many times to deliver the Spoken Word, inspirational poems, and was known throughout Roanoke for her inspirational messages.
 
Pat was the oldest living relative in the Clark-Hunt family, which she attributed to the strength of her Cherokee heritage. As the family matriarch, nurturer and historian, Pat loved to tell her stories of the good old days growing up in Glade Springs. Her grandchildren affectionately called her Nana and Grand-Mommy, and her great grandchildren called her Mimi. They, too, felt she was the best cook in the world. When she took her grandchildren back home to visit where she had grown up, they were surprised to see how popular their Nana was. You would have thought she was the town mayor. Everyone knew and loved Patsy…their hometown “celebrity,” and her life will surely inspire generations to come.
 
Patricia was preceded in death by her husband John William Hunt, Sr. and two of her children, James Frederick Hunt and Marguerite Rosita Hunt-Taylor. To cherish her memory and continue her legacy, she leaves sons John W. Hunt, Jr. of Willingboro, New Jersey; Kenneth Lee Hunt (Sharon), of Smyrna, Delaware; Virgil Louis Hunt of Roanoke, Virginia and stepson Barry C. Hunt of Wales, England; daughters, Jacqueline Hunt Lynch, of Roanoke, Virginia; Ruth Dolores Hunt of Jersey City, New Jersey; and Angela Hunt Phipps (Walter) of North Carolina; eleven grandchildren; Rodney Lynch (Teresa), Monique Clements (Kevin), Lakeisha Thomas (Edmond), Sophia Hunt, Misha Taylor, Ayoluwa Taylor, Sheryl Lewis (Terrell), Kenneth G. Hunt, Hashim Brewster, Chanel Phipps and step grandson Gavin Hunt; twenty-one great grandchildren; and four great-great grandchildren.
 
Pat was also preceded by her siblings Elizabeth Collette Clark of Richmond, Virginia; Michael Clark of Oakland, California; and Edgar Clark, Sr. of San Diego, California. She leaves behind her beloved siblings Frederick Clark (Marva) of Poughkeepsie, New York; Robert “Bobby” Clark, Jr. (Audrey) of Buffalo, New York; Angela Byantha Clark Pendleton of Rockville, Maryland; Orville “Sonny” Clark of Las Vegas, Nevada; Reba Clark of Miami, Florida; sister-in-law Edna Mae Clark of San Diego, California and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.
 
Obituary provided by the family of Ethel Hunt