Mary Bartzen Hunt passed away in Tulsa on Tuesday, September 03, 2024, at the age of 96. She was born on July 18, 1928, in Chicago, Illinois to Al and Nora Kerin Bartzen. Not long after, Mary moved with her parents and siblings Peter, Jack and Sally to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mary graduated from Holy Angels High School and then received a degree in Philosophy with a minor in Elementary Education from Marquette University. She taught school for a few years until she met James Webster Hunt. They were married on June 25, 1955, at Saint Robert's Catholic Church in Shorewood, Wisconsin. Within a year, Wisconsin was in her rearview mirror. She and her husband lived in Lake Bluff, IL, Newark, NJ, and Lake Charles, LA. In 1960 Mary and her husband and their, then, four children - Nora, George, Joe, and John - relocated to London, England, where Jim Hunt worked in the oil and gas industry. Mary gave birth to five more children there - Anne Marie, Patrick, Mary, Tom, and David. They remained in London for the next twelve years and made many close friends there; Mary kept in touch with them for decades.
In 1972, Mary and her family returned to the States, relocating to Ponca City, Oklahoma. Though this was something of a transition from London, Mary Hunt thrived in Ponca City as well, enjoying a rich life with more lasting friendships. When her husband Jim died in 1996, Mary decided to move to Tulsa to be with her children and grandchildren.

Let it be said of Mary Bartzen Hunt that this was a woman who knew how to have fun. She smoked, she drank, she laughed, she loved. A natural born performer, she was active in community theater, appearing at the Ponca Playhouse in The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, and Guys and Dolls. She also played the lead in both The Matchmaker and Never Too Late, portraying in the latter, perhaps unironically, an "older" woman having a baby. Off the stage, she channeled her creative drive into knitting. She knitted blankets, prayer shawls, hats, and sweaters, and lots of baby sweaters for her own grandchildren and others. She made friends easily and often. Put her in a waiting room with four complete strangers, in ten minutes she'd befriend them all. A devout Catholic, she did not judge. She did not snub. She hated cruelty in all its forms. In the mid-1980s she counseled patients dying of AIDS at the Ponca City hospital. She did that while also volunteering untold hours at her local Catholic church. Hers was the house the "stray" kids came to because they knew she and her husband would always welcome them and, more often than not, feed them. She was a tough lady whose compassion and generosity were unbounded.

Mary is survived by her daughter Nora Hunt-Johnson (Peter); son George (Pam); son Joe (Jayne); son John (Annette); daughter Anne Marie Moore (Paul); son Patrick; daughter Mary Keaney (Pat); son Tom; and son David (Jeanne). She is also survived by grandchildren, Evan and Alison Hunt Johnson; Jaynie Hunt; Hannah Hunt; Andy Moore, Rachel Joseph and Rebecca Moore; Lauren Sicka and Beth Godfrey; Maxwell Hunt; and Charles and Simon Hunt. And last but not remotely least, great granddaughter Cameron Rosemary Sicka.

A wake will be held on Friday, September 6, 2024, 5:30 p.m., at Fitzgerald Ivy Funeral Home, 1402 S. Boulder Avenue. Mass of Christian Burial will be at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa on Saturday, September 7, 2024, 10:00 a.m. A private burial will follow in Ponca City, at Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery, where Mary will rest beside her beloved husband.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that those wishing to pay respects make memorial donations to Catholic Charities (2450 N. Harvard Ave., Tulsa, OK 74115) or to the ALS Association (1300 Wilson Blvd, Ste. 600, Arlington, VA 22209). The family would appreciate you supporting Simple Stems for any sympathy floral arrangements, 918-798-1955.


Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, 918-585-1151