By Frederick N. Rasmussen|May 20, 2009
Harvison Hunt, a retired mechanical engineer, transit consultant and highly decorated Vietnam War veteran, died Friday of complications from Parkinson's disease at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Lutherville resident was 79.
Mr. Hunt, the son of a newspaperman and a homemaker, was born in Puyallup, Wash., and moved to Indianapolis with his family when his father became a political columnist for The Indianapolis Star.
He was a 1948 graduate of Culver Military Academy in Indiana and earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Naval Academy in 1952.
Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force, Mr. Hunt, who piloted B-66 Destroyers, light bombers, flew 120 combat missions in Vietnam.
His decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross, five Air Medals and two Meritorious Service Medals.
Discharged with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1974, Mr. Hunt entered American University in Washington, where he earned a master's degree in business in the late 1970s.
He was vice president in Baltimore for Kaiser Engineers, an international architectural and engineering firm, where he was responsible for system safety and assurance disciplines for transit projects worldwide.
"These were light rail, subways and heavy rail systems," said a son, Randall T. Hunt of Reisterstown.
Since 1999, he owned and operated Hunt & Associates, a safety and security firm.
The former longtime Homeland resident was an avid racquetball player and enjoyed boating, chess and gardening.
He was a member of the Wednesday Club, St. George's Society and the St. Andrew's Society. He was also a member of the St. Andrew's Christian Community in Roland Park.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Ruck Towson Funeral Home, 1050 York Road.
Also surviving are his wife of 53 years, the former Bonnie Thomson; another son, Kendall W. Hunt of Virginia Beach, Va.; a daughter, Jeanne Hunt Jarvis of Lexington, Va.; a brother, Sargent W. Hunt of Centerville, Ohio; and two grandchildren.
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