Father John J. Hunter, 98

Father John J. Hunter, 98, died Feb. 4 at the Home of the Good Shepherd, an assisted-living facility, in Ballston Spa.

Father Hunter was born in Cohoes to the late Clarence and Ruth McKinney Hunter. He attended elementary school at St. Agnes School in Cohoes, then La Salle Institute and graduated from Catholic Central High School, both in Troy. He received a bachelor’s degree from Siena College and a master’s degree in education from SUNY New Paltz. He also graduated from St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie) in Yonkers and was ordained a priest by Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1982.

He taught at Croydon Hall Academy in New Jersey, New York Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., Newburgh (N.Y.) public schools and Orange County Community College. Father Hunter was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving during WWII. His parish assignments included: St. Francis of Assisi in Newburgh, Church of the Holy Spirit in Peekskill, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Staten Island and St. Mary’s Church in Poughkeepsie. After retiring from the Archdiocese of New York in November of 2007, he returned to Glenville (Albany Diocese). After returning to the Schenectady area, he served at: Immaculate Conception, St. Margaret of Cortona, St. Joseph’s, St. Anthony’s, St. John the Evangelist and the former St. John the Baptist Church.

During his priesthood, Father Hunter was very involved in all aspects of the parish community at the churches he served. He gladly and generously volunteered his time and talents. Father Hunter is survived by his cousin, Mary Agnes Dame, of Glenville and her children.

The Funeral Mass of Christian Death and Burial was celebrated at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville on Feb. 9 with Father Richard Carlino as principal celebrant and homilist. Burial, with military honors, followed at Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Niskayuna. Memorial contributions may be made to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville.