<< Back to Lion December 2020 homepage
Obituaries
Colin James Hunt (OW1948)
20/02/1930 – 11/08/2020
Colin Hunt was born in Adelaide to Salvation Army parents and moved to Melbourne when his father became a Methodist clergyman. Colin lived his life with a sense of community and community engagement, an attitude strongly developed in his time at Wesley. He engaged fully with the school community and was keenly involved in all facets of school life, including as School Vice-Captain, House Captain of Games for Swimming and Rowing and as director of the House Choir in his role as Captain of Music. He rowed in the First VIII and earned his Colours in 1948. Rowing was Colin’s strongest link back to the school and he attended the annual Head of the River in Geelong every year as well as the Boat Race Dinner at every opportunity. In 2018 he travelled to see the race in Nagambie 70 years on and led the singing. A racing VIII was named in his honour at a christening
at the Boathouse.
Colin was so involved in the life of the school community, that his academic results suffered – and it was at night school, where he needed to pick up an extra subject in 1950, that he met Audrey, the love of his life. Throughout his working years, Colin’s commitment to community continued with his lifelong memberships, firstly of Jaycees Australia and then Rotary International. One of the hallmarks of his community work was that he did not seek recognition, nor did he need to know the people who would benefit from it. His satisfaction came from doing things that contributed and made the community a better place, whether it was improvement works for public parks or the long-running Rotary Highton Star Search competition, which he helped establish in 1976. Colin’s involvement in Rotary continued into his final years, when he was presented with the Paul Harris Sapphire, one of the highest awards that can be given in Rotary International.
Outside Rotary and Probus, Colin’s love of music saw him directing and performing in several adult and youth choirs and as musical director for Carols by Candlelight in Geelong. Colin delighted in humour, words and word play, twisting the English language to his will. When asked ‘How are you?’
his common response was ‘Very well at all thank you,’ something of a catch phrase, perfectly understandable and delivered in his own way.
Family was also an important part of Colin’s life and he was an ever-present and observant helper in the lives of his children and grandchildren. Colin leaves behind Audrey, his wife of 65 years, three sons, Wally, David and Andrew, three daughters-in-law, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.