Michelle C. Hunt

Michelle C. Hunt, age 58, of Lakeway, Texas passed away August 11, 2022 at her residence following a recent illness. She ended a valiant fight on her terms and went to rest peacefully in her home, surrounded by loving family. A Celebration of Life for family and friends will be held Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 2:00 pm, at The Church of Conscious Harmony, 7406 Newhall Lane, Austin, Texas 78746. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, www.ovarian.org, the Levenback Family Endowment Fund at the Holocaust Museum of Houston, or the charitable cause of your choice.

Michelle was born in Austin on a beautiful, sunny day, July 22, 1964, the first child of parents Stanley W. Crawford and Estelle DeSalme Crawford. She, undoubtably, was Stanley’s “Sunshine.” Michelle’s parents moved to Houston for her father’s work after he graduated from the University of Texas School of Law and she grew up in the rural bedroom community of Spring, Texas until age 13. Weekends on Lake Livingston, playing at Vicky’s house, and any time with Uncle Dick, Aunt Joyce, Diana, and Rhonda were her favorites. In 1976, the Crawford family relocated a few miles to the Memorial neighborhood of Houston to be closer to her father’s law practice. Michelle attended Memorial High School, where she forged lifetime friendships and graduated with honors in 1982. She traveled, enjoying England, Mexico, and Hawaii. She enjoyed a part-time internship for her father’s law office, located on busy Montrose Street, and got her first car.

Michelle was easy-going and loved to laugh with her friends, particularly on the way to Galveston beaches with Ellen and Allison. Her healthy appetite for adventurous fun belied the intellectual gifts, particularly noticeable in mathematics, which she enjoyed throughout life.

Michelle Crawford entered Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee in the Fall of 1982, living in busy Branscomb Quad, and pledged to the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Those who knew her at the time will recall that Michelle was a sincere, determined student. Michelle earned a B.E. in chemical engineering, with honors, in 1986. Being one of diminishingly few women in the Vanderbilt School of Engineering, Michelle took an active role in early work of the Vanderbilt Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and encouraged young women with similar interests to follow their passion and pursue studies in mathematics, the sciences, and engineering, today popularly known as “STEM” education. In Michelle’s day, these subjects piqued her determination in a field that did not yield equally to accommodate young women enjoying her superior abilities. Nonetheless, above all, Michelle was easy-going, thoughtful, and understanding of colleagues. She worked in an Arco refinery and two years configuring workflows for Citibank. Michelle put her education to good use, briefly working as a water quality engineer for the U.S. EPA, before turning to graduate school. She returned to Vanderbilt and earned her M.BA. in 1991.

Michelle Frances Crawford met fellow Vanderbilt engineering student Jeff Hunt in the first semester of 1982 and married the extraordinarily fortunate young man shortly after graduation, in 1987. When her husband graduated Vanderbilt law school in 1982, she gamely relocated to the cold of Wisconsin when Jeff took a position in a large law firm. The young couple made it five years before Michelle determined to return home to hot Texas. She chose the residence on Hurst Creek Road with generous walls of glass and settled her young family in the quiet village of Lakeway, just west of Austin city limits. Michelle made the Hunts’ original residence in Lakeway hers for life, perfecting the home to serve her family. Along the way, Michelle founded a brilliant retail toy store on Bee Caves Road in the Westlake Hills neighborhood of Austin, which was truly a beacon to the joys of children for several years. Most importantly, Michelle devoted herself to properly raising and shaping her two children, Cole and Renee.

Michelle’s hallmarks are persistence tempered with tolerance and understanding, lived in a fabric of her very own, weaved together of love, faith, beauty, patience, and wisdom. Her legendary persistence was instilled during childhood by the efforts of her late father, Stanley. Michelle was a great and devoted swimmer and loved to be in the water. She lived to be in the water. In addition to frequenting the Lakeway Swim Center, the Dawkins family pool with her beloved sister and best friend, Nicole, was her special place. She loved dogs and was comforted by pets Snowflake, Duke, and finally Bebe, the brilliant maltipoo who sat with Michelle and brought great joy during her last two years. Beaches have always been her favorite destinations, and Port Aransas with family was a refuge from her storms.

Michelle Crawford Hunt is survived by her devoted husband of 35 years, Jeff Hunt of Austin, Texas; son Cole Hunt of Houston, Texas; daughter Renee Hunt of Austin, Texas; mother Estelle Crawford of Lakeway, Texas; brother Clint Crawford; sister Nicole Dawkins; brother-in-law Bill Dawkins; nephews William Dawkins and Mitchell Dawkins of Lakeway, Texas; Uncle John DeSalme and Aunt Peggy DeSalme of Solon, Iowa; Uncle Tom DeSalme and Aunt Judy DeSalme of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Uncle Dick DeSalme and Aunt Joyce DeSalme of New Braunfels, Texas; father-in-law John E. Hunt and mother-in-law Margie Hunt of Waverly, Tennessee; brother-in-law Kevin J. Hunt of Colorado Springs, Colorado; her cousins; and extended relations. Michelle was preceded in death by her grandparents, Uncle Michael Crawford formerly of Sugarland, Texas, and her beloved father, Stanley W. Crawford, formerly of Austin, Texas.

The family of Michelle Hunt wishes to express heartfelt gratitude to the incredible medical professionals, volunteers, and financial supporters of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, for invaluable assistance and the wonderful care for our beloved Mich during the last years of her brilliant life with us.