{??geburg community lost the greatest godmamma, a loyal friend, a confidant and walking partner, an encourager and educator with the death of Hattie Hunter.
She never met a stranger. She believed in helping others. She was a champion for education. She loved South Carolina State University.
“She was literally a mother figure,” Pastor Shane Wall said of his godmother. “She was the type of individual who everybody was her child. ... She loved church of all denominations, from Methodist to Pentecostal. She traveled to see historic sites and loved Black history. She really gave her heart to the educational system, learning as much as she could so she could give more. She retired more times than I can count. She kept going back to work or sitting in with student teachers and giving them ideas.”
“She never once complained about all that she was doing, never felt pressured to do something because she wanted to do it. At 77 years old, I’m still finding it hard to believe she was still as alert and spry as she was. That’s my godmamma.”
Hunter, described as a teacher, motivator, community leader, the epitome of the consummate educator and a “sower of good seeds,” was killed in her home Friday. Albert Clayton Smith has been arrested and charged with murder.
Hunter was an educator for 40 years. She attended Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., where she earned her undergraduate degree in English and reading. She received her master’s degree from the University of Indiana in Bloomington.
She was chair of the Department of English at Allen University and came to S.C. State in 1968. She retired from S.C. State in May 2000.
“She was an individual who loved social events and loved to travel,” Wall said. “She was just honored by SCSU for a lifetime donation of over a hundred thousand dollars. She really, truly loved S.C. State.”
Hunter was also presented with the Distinguished Service Award this past February during S.C. State’s Founders Day convocation.
“What is going to be missed is her literally world-famous party after homecoming games. Everybody – doctors, professors, presidents – for more than 25 years she and her husband Dr. Milton Hunter, who passed away about 15 years ago, hosted a homecoming dinner for anybody who wanted to stop by her home. She kept it up after he passed away,” he said.
When Hunter first moved into her house on Palmetto Parkway, she and neighbor Willie Bracey had a lot in common. The two formed a long-lasting friendship, and became walking partners.
“We walked together for 27 years, and when she moved in front of me 35 years ago, I had no immediate family, except for my husband, and she had no immediate family, except her husband, so we bonded and we became friends,” Bracey said. “We were in some of the same clubs and organizations. She was my confidant, traveling partner, a member of my family, so much so that all of my family members referred to her as Aunt Hat.
“Thirty-five years across the street from each other and we had a good relationship,” she said, adding that she was sad to see her friend’s life end the way it did. “But it was a joy to have known a person like Hattie.”
All of the neighbors loved Hunter. In fact, everybody loved her. Pearl Thompson was emphatic about that. Thompson described her as a person who was always willing to help anybody.
“She was really good for doing anything you asked her,” she said. “She was such a good neighbor. I had just asked Hattie to join our bridge club. We were having our meeting on Saturday. She didn’t make it to her first meeting. I have not slept since Hattie died. Anybody and everybody loved her, the neighbors loved her. There was nothing you could ask Hattie that she wasn’t willing to do. It was a great loss to us.”
Pastor Wall was on his way to Smith’s arraignment hearing as he reflected on his godmother, and all she has meant to his life and the lives of so many others. He wasn’t there when the incident happened, but said he could imagine what she was saying to Smith.
“I believe she no doubt gave Albert one of her speeches I’ve gotten my whole life about doing better and doing what you’re supposed to be doing. She always treated you as her child, and that probably angered him,” he said.
Charlene Slaughter can be reached by e-mail at cslaughter@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5529. Discuss this and other stories online at TheT&D.com.