Ann Elizabeth Hunt, 93, passed away at Ft Bayard Medical Center on Mother’s Day, May 8, 2022. She was born June 29, 1928 to Roy and Edna Richardson in Battle Creek, Michigan. Ann was the youngest of three siblings. To the end of her life, she fondly recalled her youth swimming in lakes, ice skating on ponds and helping her parents manage a small grocery store.
As a child, Ann was challenged by asthma and doctors advised her parents to move her to a drier climate. With this in mind they moved to Arizona right after the second World War. Ann married Duston L. Hunt, Sr. in Phoenix in 1947. In 1948, the couple bought a small ranch south of Silver City from Duston’s uncle, Ed Wheat. Ann managed the livestock and was an active member of the Home Extension Club while Duston worked for Kennecott Copper at Hurley. One son was born to this union in 1951. The family sold the ranch in 1956 and moved to Silver City so Duston could attend college at Western New Mexico Teachers College. To support the family, Ann worked as a telephone operator in downtown Silver City. In their spare time they built a house entirely by themselves. They dug the foundation, mixed the cement, framed up the walls, they did it all. Ann’s job was to mix the cement but she drove nails, dug ditches and was an important part of every aspect of building the house.
After Duston graduated and became a teacher, the family sold the house and bought a small piece of bare land north of Silver City and began building a second house. Once again, the family did all the work and Ann mixed the cement. Eventually, this house was sold and they bought a farm on the Gila River south of Cliff, NM. But this farm had no house and the family built and lived in a barn while they built a third house. Once again, they did it all by hand. Ann loved the farm, had a big garden, spent hours on the tractor and was a driving force behind the management of the livestock. Beginning in the late 1960’s, a series of Gila River floods seriously damaged the farm and caused tension within the family. Duston was determined to sell what was left of the farm and start over somewhere else. Ann would not leave her house and was determined not to build another. After 32 years the couple divorced.
Ann supported herself by working as a janitor at the Grant County Courthouse. Eventually, she did sell the farm to be a partner with her son in a farming and ranching operation at Mangas Springs. She was able to play an important role in the life of her granddaughter and most importantly, she was able to move into an existing house! During her retirement years she volunteered at the hospital, Chamber of Commerce, the Grant County Fair exhibit building and was a poll worker during elections. The final years of her life were spent at Mangas Springs surrounded by her family.
Ann is survived by her son Duston L. Hunt, Jr (Patricia), granddaughter Alida Elizabeth Burchett (Robert) and grandsons Rowan and Brennan. She also has family in Arizona and two nieces in Washington and Oregon and a nephew in Massachusetts.
No services are planned. Cremation has taken place at Terrazas Crematory.
Arrangements are with Terrazas Funeral Chapels and Crematory.
As a child, Ann was challenged by asthma and doctors advised her parents to move her to a drier climate. With this in mind they moved to Arizona right after the second World War. Ann married Duston L. Hunt, Sr. in Phoenix in 1947. In 1948, the couple bought a small ranch south of Silver City from Duston’s uncle, Ed Wheat. Ann managed the livestock and was an active member of the Home Extension Club while Duston worked for Kennecott Copper at Hurley. One son was born to this union in 1951. The family sold the ranch in 1956 and moved to Silver City so Duston could attend college at Western New Mexico Teachers College. To support the family, Ann worked as a telephone operator in downtown Silver City. In their spare time they built a house entirely by themselves. They dug the foundation, mixed the cement, framed up the walls, they did it all. Ann’s job was to mix the cement but she drove nails, dug ditches and was an important part of every aspect of building the house.
After Duston graduated and became a teacher, the family sold the house and bought a small piece of bare land north of Silver City and began building a second house. Once again, the family did all the work and Ann mixed the cement. Eventually, this house was sold and they bought a farm on the Gila River south of Cliff, NM. But this farm had no house and the family built and lived in a barn while they built a third house. Once again, they did it all by hand. Ann loved the farm, had a big garden, spent hours on the tractor and was a driving force behind the management of the livestock. Beginning in the late 1960’s, a series of Gila River floods seriously damaged the farm and caused tension within the family. Duston was determined to sell what was left of the farm and start over somewhere else. Ann would not leave her house and was determined not to build another. After 32 years the couple divorced.
Ann supported herself by working as a janitor at the Grant County Courthouse. Eventually, she did sell the farm to be a partner with her son in a farming and ranching operation at Mangas Springs. She was able to play an important role in the life of her granddaughter and most importantly, she was able to move into an existing house! During her retirement years she volunteered at the hospital, Chamber of Commerce, the Grant County Fair exhibit building and was a poll worker during elections. The final years of her life were spent at Mangas Springs surrounded by her family.
Ann is survived by her son Duston L. Hunt, Jr (Patricia), granddaughter Alida Elizabeth Burchett (Robert) and grandsons Rowan and Brennan. She also has family in Arizona and two nieces in Washington and Oregon and a nephew in Massachusetts.
No services are planned. Cremation has taken place at Terrazas Crematory.
Arrangements are with Terrazas Funeral Chapels and Crematory.
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