Laurel Virginia Hunter, M.D.

Laurel Virginia Hunter, M.D. passed away on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. She was a pediatrician for more than 50 years who was also a loving mother and grandmother. She was a person who gave of herself to others.

Laurel was born to Aubrey and Marie Mullins in Fort Worth, Texas, on Feb. 8, 1927.

After high school, she attended Johns Hopkins University from 1944-46 and then the University of Richmond from 1946-48.

In 1948, she entered the University of Maryland Medical School where she met her future husband of over 50 years, DeWitt T. Hunter, Jr., M.D.

She later did her residency in pediatrics at University Hospital in Baltimore (1953-55), which were followed by fellowships at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia (Pediatrics, 1955-56) and at Texas Children’s Medical Center at the University of Texas in Dallas (Pediatric Allergy, 1956-58).

In 1974, she went back to school at the University of California, Berkeley, and received her Masters in Public Health.

Due to an acute shortage of doctors, the U.S. Air Force contacted her. As a result of her extensive training and impressive resume, she was offered a three-year tour at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. She served in pediatrics at Los Angeles Air Force Station and Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Following her retirement in Fallbrook, Calif., she was known for her kind and gentle nature and referred to by many as the grandma from the Tweety Bird cartoons. She never tired of attending to someone in need.

She was preceded in death by her parents Aubrey and Marie Mullins of Columbia, Md., her husband DeWitt T. Hunter, Jr., M.D., of Woodland, Wash., her sister Barbara Seibert of Columbia, Md., her brother Lee Mullins of Tucson, Ariz., and her daughter Mary Ellen Carr of Fallbrook, California.

She is survived by her daughter Ruth Ann Hunter of Gig Harbor, Wash., her son-in-law Robert Carr of Fallbrook, and her grandsons Erik and Alex Carr, also of Fallbrook.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to the University of Richmond or the University of Maryland Medical School.