DR. JOHN MEACHAM HUNT

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DR. JOHN MEACHAM HUNT Dr. John Meacham Hunt of Falmouth, Massachusetts, husband of Phyllis Laking, formerly of Winnipeg, died July 23, 2005, at the age of 86. John was born in 1918 to Marguerite Meacham and Raymond Edward Hunt of Cleveland, Ohio. He and Phyllis were married in Winnipeg in 1972. John was interested in aviation history particularly First World War fighter planes. He also enjoyed cartoons and cartooning. He loved a challenge. At the age of 22 he rode a racing bicycle around Lake Erie with his best friend in 10 days. Later in life, he took up distance running and at 62 he ran the New York City Marathon with his wife Phyllis. John received a B.A. in Chemistry from Western Reserve University in 1941, a M.S. in Petroleum Chemistry in 1943 and a Ph.D. in Organic Geochemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1946. He worked as a Research Chemist and the Head of Geochemical Research at Jersey Production Research Company (an Exxon-Mobil subsidiary) from 1948 to 1963. In 1964 he joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where he served variously as Chairman of the Department of Geology and Chemistry (1964 to 1967), Chairman, Department of Chemistry (1967 to 1974), Senior Scientist (1974 to 1984), and Scientist Emeritus (1984 to 2005). John was the recipient of the Karcher Medal in 1979, the Treibs Medal of the Geochemical Society in 1982, and the Gold Medal of Honor of Albert Einstein from the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences in 2002. He is the author of over 100 publications on petroleum geochemistry and the 1979 and 1996 reference textbooks, Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology. He lectured about the origin and migration of petroleum in numerous cities in 35 countries. John is survived by his wife, Phyllis; his sister, Virginia Dietrich, of Wooster, Ohio; two sons from his first marriage, Randall K. Hunt and Lawrence Lee Hunt of Houston; and three grandchildren. Funeral services were held July 29 at the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Homes followed by burial in Oak Grove Cemetery, Falmouth, Massachusetts.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 30, 2005