IRVING, Texas (January 25, 2021) — Dr. Harry B. Hunt, Distinguished Fellow in Old Testament at B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, died Jan. 19 in Longview, Texas. He was 76.
Hunt begin serving at B.H. Carroll in 2007, following his retirement from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth in 2002. He served the seminary, teaching both Old Testament and Semitic Languages, for 26 years.
(left to right) Drs. Dan Kent, Boo Heflin, Joseph Cathey, Harry Hunt, Rick Johnson, and Thomas Brisco on the steps of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2002, following Cathey’s successful completion of the Ph.D. program.
Hunt was instrumental in the career development of Dr. Joseph Cathey, Carroll Fellow for Biblical Languages and Literature. Cathey was Hunt’s final Ph.D. student before his retirement from Southwestern Seminary.
“Harry was my mentor, but he was also my friend,” Cathey said. “Much of my library I have because he said at his retirement, ‘I’m giving these books to you. Use them well.’ I have and when I do I think of him and the dedication he encouraged to biblical scholarship.”
“Harry’s reputation was such that he was highly respected in the guild of scholars. He had studied with some of the most well-known scholars in the field of biblical languages and he translated that lifetime of accumulated knowledge to his students. He loved seeing them succeed academically, but most importantly in handling the text—the Word of God—well.”
Cathey said Hunt was always a “son of East Texas.”
Born in Marshall, Texas, on July 16, 1944, Hunt graduated from Carthage High School in 1962. He attended Stephen F. Austin University. Just before his graduation in 1966, he married Patricia Lou Blackwell. He later attended Southwestern Seminary, where he earned his master’s degree in 1968 and doctorate in theology in 1972. He also received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1975.
Dr. Hunt will lie in state at the Jimerson-Lipsey Funeral Home from 2-5 p.m. on Friday, January 22. A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, January 23, at Restland Memorial Park in located at 2107 State Hwy 149 in Carthage, Texas 75633.
The family has requested memorials be made to South Hills Baptist Church, Building Fund, 7350 Granbury Road, Fort Worth, Texas 76123, or to B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, 6500 North Beltline Road, Suite 100, Irving, Texas 75063.