Tanner T. Hunt, Jr. slipped away very peacefully on April 6, 2025, surrounded by his three children. He was 89 years old. Born in Port Arthur on March 3, 1936, Tanner lived in Beaumont for most of his life – one of the many reasons he felt lucky in life. His parents, T.T. Hunt, Sr., and Velma Welch Hunt, were hard-working, kind, and doted on their only child. After attending Averill Elementary and Dick Dowling Junior High, Tanner graduated from Beaumont High School in 1954 where he played on the basketball team (decent), and the golf team (atrocious). He then moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. During two glorious college summers, he worked as a guide for students who were touring across Europe. Another summer, he and some high school friends moved to Greenwich Village in New York, where Tanner had a job with the New York Times as a gopher.
As an only child, Tanner was bookish and considered following in his father’s footsteps as a journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Beaumont Enterprise. However, after graduating with a B.A. in English in 1958, Tanner went to law school at the University of Virginia instead, ultimately completing his J.D. at UT Law School in 1962. Tanner and his first wife, Anabel Stelfox, moved to Washington, DC, where Tanner worked in Robert Kennedy’s Department of Justice, and where his first child, Tanner Truett (Truett) Hunt III, was born. Also born in Washington was his love of bluegrass and folk music, which would remain a consuming enthusiasm throughout his life. And with many thousands of others, Tanner stood in the crowd as Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.
He and Anabel returned to Beaumont in 1964, where again he had the luck (despite having, by his own admission, too much fun in law school) to be offered a job at Wells, Duncan and Beard, the firm where he remained for the entirety of his 57-year private practice. He respected and learned from founding partners Peter Wells, George Duncan, and Louis Beard, whom he called “fine and honorable lawyers.” Another stroke of luck occurred when Tanner became the attorney for South Park ISD, which later merged with Beaumont ISD, a client for 35 years. Other school districts followed. He felt fortunate to discover a niche early in his career and believed that school board members were often a community’s unsung and wisest leaders.
Tanner and Anabel went on to have two additional children, Faulkner and Meredith, before divorcing in 1973. More luck came his way when he reconnected with his high school sweetheart, Mary Ellen Phelan McKaughan. Marrying in 1978, Mary Ellen was and is a lovely and loving stepmother to his three children, for which he was always grateful.
Through the years, Tanner enjoyed, well just about everything; playing handball at the Y, writing reviews to books no one ever read and letters to the editor that some did, playing poker at The Beaumont Club (he won some), running for State Representative (he lost decidedly), performing with local bluegrass band The Barflies and the Maids, presiding enthusiastically over a literary club with Lamar University professors he entitled “Town Meets Gown,” and, most notably, hosting a weekly bluegrass show called “Saturday Night with the Folks,” which aired on KVLU for more than 40 years. He joked that most of the listeners resided in the local prison. Tanner always stressed to his children the importance of having roots in a community, and he certainly did that. He and his family lived in Beaumont for almost 100 years.
Tanner’s greatest joy was his children and grandchildren. At times, they tested his limits (at one point, there were five teenagers living under his roof), but he took limitless pleasure in spending time with them and was interested in every single aspect of their lives. Tanner rarely gave advice, but he did share the wisdom of his experience, such as: the importance of an education, the value of broadening one’s horizons, and the freedom of being one’s own boss. Most importantly, he showed his children who he was by his genuine and heartfelt interest in other people’s lives – whether he was in a courtroom, a classroom, a party, a poker table, a late-night school board meeting, the Y, the office, the radio station, or the drive-in window at Dunkin Donuts – Tanner made many friends throughout his long life. If he liked you, you knew it.
Tanner’s family would like to express our sincerest gratitude to the many helpers who made his life better and were like family to him, especially toward the end of his life: Angela Hamilton, Debra Leblue, Jerry Phillips, Herlinda Uz, Alex Torres, the Richard family, Tracie Bullock, and Cele Stevens.
Survivors:
Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Mary Ellen Hunt; his sons and daughter and their spouses (Truett & Leah Hunt, Faulkner Hunt & Ann Lightfoot, Meredith Hunt & Charlie Flatten); and his beloved grandchildren: Joab, Henry, Agatha Hunt, Beatrice Hunt, and Silas Flatten. He is also survived by Mary Ellen’s five children (Pete Musgrove, Ma’Lise Gonzalez, Richard McKaughan, Amanda McKaughan, and Tim McKaughan) and their families.
Memorial Service:
A memorial service in Tanner’s honor will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at 3 p.m. at the family home in Beaumont.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to KVLU Public Radio, The Lincoln Project, or a charity of your choice.