High Point- Sara Forrest Thompson Hunt, 103, previously of High Point, North Carolina, died on August 7, 2020, at River Landing at Sandy Ridge in Colfax, N.C. Sara Forrest was predeceased by her husband of 64 years, Dr. William Jack Hunt, their daughter Sara Elizabeth (Beth) Hunt Finch, and an infant son William John Hunt. She was also predeceased by her sisters Margaret Thompson MacMillan and Ruth Merelyn Thompson Jobe and brother William Thompson. She is survived by her daughter, the Reverend Patricia Hunt of Staunton, Virginia, granddaughter Sara Elizabeth Lovelace of Richmond, Virginia, and grandson John Bentley Lovelace, his wife Inese, and their sons, Edvard and Kristofer of Arlington, Virginia; nephews Pat Jobe, Bill Jobe, Robert Thompson, and niece Mary Bland.
Sara Forrest was born on January 26, 1917 in Burlington, NC to May Coble Thompson and William Newton Thompson. She counted Thomasville as her hometown even though her family moved around the state throughout her childhood.
She graduated from High Point College (1939). She taught school in Sedgefield and Thomasville, NC and worked for two very happy years at the Greensboro YWCA. She maintained her commitment to the Y throughout her life, serving on the board of the High Point YWCA and receiving their first Lifetime Support Award in 2014. As a part of the YWCA’s international emphasis on promoting the dignity of all people and opposing racism, she organized the first interracial worship service in Greensboro, NC in the early 1940’s.
She was an active member of First Presbyterian Church of High Point. She was president for two years of the Guilford County Medical Auxiliary and chair of a conference they convened that resulted in the formation of the Family Life Council of High Point. Her interest in education led to her becoming president of the Ferndale Junior High PTA and Girl Scout leader.
She was a fine public speaker, could run a meeting well, and had a tattered Roberts Rules of Order that she had mastered. In high school she debated with teammates Austin C. Lovelace (later a prominent scholar, church organist, and composer) and his brother Marc under the direction of the legendary Miss Lois Johnson (later the first Dean of Women at Wake Forest College) which prepared her well for college debating.
She enjoyed movies and had loved acting in plays during her college years. She declined to continue acting even after she received encouragement to do so because she thought it would interfere with paid employment. She was a wonderful dancer and a natural at horseback riding. These talents did not extend to athletics, however, and she was fond of recounting how the college student newspaper covered her sole athletic triumph: “Thompson Gets Volleyball Over Net.” She was a reader, especially of history and fiction.
She was an inspiration to many in the way she handled the challenges of a very long life. She continued to go to exercise classes, balance her own checkbook down to the penny and refused to complain about the physical problems of aging. She enjoyed her years at River Landing because she got to meet so many new people.
She said she had been sustained by her faith and is passing along to her daughter her prayer chair, a rose-colored winged chair where she recommended Pat sit if she has big problems.
The family wishes to express their gratitude to the staff of River Landing and especially to Jodi Hughes who helped both Sara Forrest and Jack Hunt in their last years. Her compassion and warmth, sense of humor and skills are deeply appreciated.
In light of her commitment to the High Point YWCA, the family requests donations be made in her honor. Their address is: 112 Gatewood Avenue, High Point, NC 27262.
There will be no services at this time. There is a video interview with Sara Forrest that the family is making available. To access it, use the link at the end of her obituary on the Sechrest Funeral Service website sechrestfunerals.com. They are also making available a tribute by her granddaughter which you can access using a link to the document.
Sechrest Funeral Service is honored to serve the Hunt family.
Part One:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygrd3PL450Q&t=39s
Part Two:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3IlpL4DjpQ&t=16s
A tribute to Sara:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gfsnRynLE6-dzE4Pk2pACmfxRJDWePfeL1HznjQxNCo/edit?ts=5f2f4345
