Obituary of John Keith Hunter

John Keith Hunter of Iowa City died Sunday, June 1, 2008 at Mercy Hospital after a lengthy illness. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 4, 2008, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 4 to 7pm Tuesday at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service. Family graveside services will be at a later date in Rock Island, Il. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be designated to the Iowa City Noon Optimist Club, Augustana College Science Department, Rock Island, IL or Iowa City Hospice. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web @ www.gayandciha.com. John was born March 7, 1929 in Columbus, Ohio son of J Keith and Maude Hartz Hunter. He grew up in Rock Island, IL where John graduated from Rock Island High School in 1947. There he was involved in the camera club, band and on the Tennis team and track team. He went on to graduate from Augustana College with a BS in chemistry in 1951, and the University of Iowa with a MS in Zoology in 1953. He served the US Army in Germany from 1954-56 during the Korean Conflict. John moved with wife Ann Baker Hunter to Iowa City in 1956, where the couple has lived since. John taught general science at University High School in Iowa City before working at the University in the Zoology department. He retired from VA Hospital after working for over 20 years in Bacteriology and Photobiology research, where he co-authored over 30 papers. John was a charter member of both the American Photobiology Society and the European Photobiology Society; charter member of the Augustana College Dolphins Swimming Society where he was a lifeguard and swimming instructor; Member Beta Omega Sigma Fraternity; Founding member of Iowa City Solar Energy Club; Iowa Solar Energy Association; Past President of VA Employees Association; past representative to the School board from Longfellow school; Member and past president of Iowa City Noon Optimist Club and die-hard Christmas tree seller; member American Legion Post 721, member Hoover Library Association; VA Hospital 7600 hour Volunteer , and is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City. John enjoyed cooking, gardening, woodworking, learning, and in his own words “My greatest joy has been to adapt techniques to facilitate experiments at work and at home;” or you could say he liked to figure out how things work and how they could work better. John’s family includes his wife of 54 years, Ann; daughter Sabrina (Doug) Alberhasky, 2 grandchildren JD & Jessica all of Iowa City and brother Rev. Ben (Lynn) Hunter of Davenport, IA. He was preceded in death by his parents. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for John’s family and his services.