Ray Hunt

Ray Hunt

Ray Hunt, 79, of Mountain Home, passed away on March 12, 2009, in Denton, Texas, after a long and courageous battle with COPD.

A memorial and celebration of Rayıs life will be held March 28, 2009, at 2 p.m. at the Mountain Home Junior High in Mountain Home.

Ray was born Aug. 31, 1929, in Paul, Idaho, to parents Joel Eugene Hunt and Zua Stella Shangle Hunt. The family moved to Mountain Home in 1933. Ray attended the Mountain Home schools and worked with his father on the family farm.

Ray married Millie Randall in 1948. In 1950 they moved to the Battle Mountain, Nev., area where Ray worked as a cowboy for the T Lazy S ranch.

In 1955 the family moved to California. Ray continued working with horses, becoming famous the world over for his pioneering methods.

Ray married Carolyn Lord in 1980 at Georgetown Lake, Mont.

The clinics grew to epic proportions with Ray helping people and horses both domestically and internationally. Ray often earned recognition for his achievements including the Top Hand Award, being inducted into the California Reined Cow Horse Hall of Fame in 2004 and being named the first Western Horseman of the Year in 2005.

Ray is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and daughters Geri Van Norman of Tuscarora, Nev., Kathy Hunt of Salinas, Calif., Elaine Black of Homedale, and Julie Ristau of Kodiak, Alaska, and sons Joel Hunt of Bruneau and Preston Lord of Mountain Home, three sisters, Esther Fisher of Mountain Home, Doris Alzola of Meridian and Karma (Bob) LeMaster of Sulton, Wash., 18 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, two sisters, one grandson and one great-grandson.

A memorial was held March 21, 2009, at the Oak Valley Ranch in Era, Texas.

A memorial and celebration will be held in Australia on April 4, 2009, at The Great Western Hotel at 10 a.m.

For those that would like to send cards please do so at the following address:

Carolyn Hunt

9698 E Hwy 20,

Mountain Home, ID 83647

In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Ray Hunt Memorial Fund administered by the Capital Area Therapeutic Riding Association. It will be used solely in support of programs dedicated to horseback riding for people with disabilities. Ray was impressed by how the horses were able to impact people with disabilities in such dynamic ways and this program really meant a lot to him. All donations are tax deductible. For more information on CATRA please go to the website catra.net, or contact Ben Nolt 717-649-9822 or mail donations to: CATRA, PO Box 339, Grantville, PA. 17028-0339. Capital Area Therapeutic Riding Association, Inc. is a not-for-profit

rganization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service.