April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
N.Y. TRANSPLANT
Popular priest can't seem to retire
When he first moved here, Father Hunter filled in for priests at several parishes in the Schenectady area, including now-closed St. John the Baptist.
"Everywhere he went, people would say, 'Can we keep him?'" recalled Cheryl Elkins, administrative assistant to the diocesan administrative advocate for priests. "And I would say, 'No, you can't keep him. He's a priest, not a puppy.' He's just a down-to-earth, easy-going, outgoing kind of guy."
Although Father Hunter is now 89 years old and has no permanent assignment, he has been woven into the fabric of St. Joseph's parish in Schenectady and its mission church, St. Margaret of Cortona in Rotterdam Junction. He celebrates Mass two mornings a week, on Saturday nights and on holy days and holidays at St. Margaret's; he fills in when needed at St. Joseph's; and he presides at funerals at both churches and at other parishes in the area.
But "I feel retired," he told The Evangelist. "If you're not available, then you can say no."
Latecomer
Father Hunter's eagerness to serve may stem from his delayed vocation - although it wouldn't have been delayed if circumstances were different. The Cohoes native attended the former St. Agnes School, followed by LaSalle Institute and Catholic Central High School in Troy.
The presence of priests at each school helped plant the seed of his vocation. As a 12-year-old, he used to chat and have meals with the Franciscans who lived across from St. Agnes.
After high school, Father Hunter was drafted into World War II; he joined the U.S. Navy and served as a yeoman and then an ensign from 1943-46. As the officer who distributed the "liberty cards" that allowed personnel to leave ships, "I had a lot of friends," he remembered with a laugh.
After the war, Father Hunter decided to delay entering the seminary because he was the only available caretaker for his stepmother after his sister married. He attended Siena College in Loudonville and SUNY-New Paltz and then taught high-schoolers for three decades.
Teach your children
The teacher relocated downstate and taught seventh- through ninth-graders at a public school in Newburgh for 24 years after serving at two military academies. The difference in students' attitudes was noticeable.
"The years that I was teaching there [were] a little bit on the rough side," Father Hunter remembered. "The youngsters would battle amongst themselves, and other teachers were subject to a little bit of brutality."
Father Hunter served his home parish as a lector and became a deacon in 1982. He finally entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers at 58 years old. He was ordained in 1986 in Rome by Blessed Pope John Paul II - a result of being in the right place at the right time.
"He was such a spiritual man and also a people person," the priest said of the late pope. "He was very friendly. You felt that he was really [like] the Lord because of the way he treated everybody."
Father Hunter remembered waiting to greet the pontiff during a private audience with about 40 people, including his sister. When he reached the siblings, the pope did a double-take "and said to me, 'This is your mother?' And the rector behind the pope said, 'Oh no, your holiness; this is his sister!'"
Happy to serve
Father Hunter "felt very fortunate and very privileged to reach ordination." He spent his active years of priesthood serving three different parishes in the Archdiocese of New York until his official retirement in 2007.
"Every pastor that I had was a wonderful person - very friendly, caring, compassionate," he said. "In every parish, the parishioners were just a great group of Christians [and] I felt at home."
One of his favorite activities was visiting nursing homes and adult residences, which filled up a chunk of his week at a Poughkeepsie parish: "It was very inspirational to see how [residents] carried their life and their illness and how they were helped by the Lord. They weren't out in the public, but, in most cases, they were enjoying their life."
Some former parishioners have traveled to the Albany Diocese to attend a Mass celebrated by Father Hunter, said Pamela Zilka, a music minister in Rotterdam Junction.
Lucky parishioners
She understands his appeal. "He has been a gift," she explained. "He's just always there to do whatever needs to be done. By his demeanor, you can just tell he's happy to be there. We've been able to have so much more; Father [Michael] Hogan [the pastor of St. Joseph's] would be running himself ragged by this point."
Father Hunter said he intends "to minister in the priesthood as long as I possibly can, and I know that someday I'm going to have to say, 'No, I can't do it anymore.'
"My health is absolutely perfect," he continued. "I'm so thankful to God that I have reached this point in my life."
In his down-time, the priest enjoys reading mystery novels and biographies about saints "to find out what they did in their lifetime. It's very interesting.
"We as Catholics should follow through and read about the saints," Father Hunter recommended, "and try to emulate them, try to do what they did," though "maybe not on the same scale. We're all on our way to heaven and we get there the best way we know how. I've tried to be a good person [and] help other people as often as I can."
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