Emily Kelso Hunt

After a richly lived and artfully crafted life, Emily Kelso Hunt passed away unexpectedly in her home in Schuyler, VA on Sunday, February 11th, 2023 at 69 years of age. Emily was born in Richmond, Virginia the daughter of Charles Blake Kelso and Helen Beal Kelso. She grew up in the Bon Air neighborhood and graduated from UVA.

Emily was talented in all she did. Through her gifts of art and teaching she found ways to turn her hardships into beauty and celebrate those around her. Her work as an art educator of 24 years at Mountaintop Montessori in Charlottesville changed the lives of countless children and staff. Her legacy is the love and wonder of seeing a child create and appreciate art. The community of Schyuler (and beyond) will remember her for her painting, pottery and soap making.

She was a treasured mother to Helen “Heddy” Elizabeth Hunt and wife to deceased Robert Bruce Hunt. Heddy’s friends across the nation will remember her for always welcoming them into a home full of warmth and laughter, where everyone left with a full belly and a bar of her homemade soap.

Emily is survived by her daughter Heddy, her son-in-law Walker Hunt, her sister and her family; as well as innumerable devoted friends, young artists of Mountaintop Montessori and her dog Frank. She is preceded in death by her husband Bruce, her parents and her beloved friend Carl Gaglio.

Because Emily was a constant source of warmth, beauty, and abundance, a celebration of her life will be held in the summer with a date and location to be announced.