On December 26, 2019, Bob Hunter, aka Coach Hunter died in his home at 88 from Alzheimer’s. Bob Hunter was a physical education teacher and coach at Joaquin Miller Middle School in Cupertino, CA for 39 years. He was so influential and beloved that the gym was named in his honor when he retired. He leaves behind his two daughters, Kim and Donna; his son, Robert McKinley Hunter; and four grandchildren—Lorien, Sander, Hunter and Holden. His wife, Sophie Hunter, died in 2002.
Robert Nelson Hunter was born in Florida to Pearl Alexander, but was raised by his grandmother, for whom he said he was her favorite, and his Uncle Alec and his wife JB, Pearl’s eldest brother.
Alec was a pharmacist at Tuskegee University and JB was a nurse. So when he came of age, Robert attended school there, intending to become a mechanic, until it became clear that he had no talent for it. He majored in Physical Education instead. Bob probably didn’t know at the time, but teaching PE and coaching—loving and mentoring students through sport—was what he was born to do. But one thing he never forgot was the swimming teacher who yelled at his students to get in the pool from the deck where he stood bundled in sweats. As you all know, Coach Hunter may have made you do 12-count burpees, but he was doing them with you.
He was also a football player and track star (who nearly qualified for the Olympics), at Tuskegee, and was inducted into their Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
After college he joined the military, and was supposed to go to the Korean War (where his father was a sergeant), but it ended before he was sent. Bob was stationed in Munich, Germany rather than Korea, where he met his future wife, Sophie Steigenberger (aka Stinkenberger). She was supposed to come to the US for a year to see how she liked it, but they married almost immediately and were together until she died. Then again, we could smell her perfume on Christmas Eve and he died on the 26th, so perhaps they are still a pair.
Around 1959, the US military decided to thin its ranks, so Bob left to try his hand at teaching. Jack Belote, the principal at Miller, committed to bringing black teachers to the school, recruited Bob to work there. Bob had immense respect for Jack and always referred to him as his own Martin Luther King. Jack later sent Bob to the South to recruit other black teachers, which is how Ann Hill joined Miller’s faculty.
As mentioned earlier, Bob taught at Miller for 39 years. He began by just teaching boys’ PE and coaching flag football, wrestling, and track (he was not a round ball man), but he then created the Adaptive PE program for students who were either temporarily or permanently physically or mentally challenged, and then added girls’ PE and coaching.
Bob impacted countless girls and boys by seeing their individual greatness and helping them see it, too. He wasn’t great at remembering names but he’d create a nickname like “whitehead,” for a student with blonde hair, and then call their younger sibling “little whitehead.” His booming voice could be heard all the way across the field and park to Lynbrook, so you could sometimes make out things like, “Gentlemen, it’s going to be a blood day, “You are your brother’s keeper,” ‘The only easy day was yesterday,” “Take an area.”
Although he had to contend with Alzheimer’s for the last ten years of his life, he was lucky enough to have his granddaughter, Lorien, live with him for the last six and develop their own comedy team. Lorien and his amazing care team, Diana, Angela, Ramona and Ysela enabled him to live and be loved at home until he passed.
Gone but not forgotten, Bob was an extra ordinary man—a man doing an ordinary job extraordinarily.
On Saturday, February 29, 2020 from 11-1:30 pm, we will be holding a memorial for Bob at the gym at Joaquin Miller Middle School, 6151 Rainbow Drive, San Jose, CA 95129. We hope you will all come with stories to share. An open house with light fare will follow at 1055 Wunderlich Dr., San Jose, 95129 from 2-5 pm.
In lieu of flowers, we would really appreciate you donating to Alzheimer’s Association or PlayWorks.
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