Mary Alice Hunt, retired professor emeritus of the School of Library & Information Studies at The Florida State University, passed away at her home on Saturday, December 19, 2009.

Mary Alice was born in Lima, Ohio on April 14, 1928. She graduated from Ocala High School in 1946 and enrolled at Florida State University, where she earned a degree in journalism.

From 1951-1952, she was employed by the Tallahassee Democrat and interviewed Dr. Louis Shores, dean of the School of Library Science at Florida State. Shores convinced Mary Alice to earn her master’s degree in library science and awarded her a graduate assistantship. In 1954, Mary Alice became an assistant to Shores. She then served as librarian for the Florida State University School (Florida High), became an instructor and then assistant professor of library science. In the early 1970s, Mary Alice took a leave of absence to earn her PhD at Indiana University before returning to teach at FSU.

During her career she served the American Library Association (ALA) in many significant areas—member of the Newbery-Caldecott Committee, chair of the Newberry-Caldecott Committee, board member of the Association of Library Service to Children (a division of ALA)—and was elected as an ALA Council member several times.

Mary Alice was a founding member of the Gamma Chapter of Beta Phi Mu, the international library and information science honor society. She served as president of the organization and was named outstanding member in 2005.

In 1995, she retired from the School of Library and Information Studies as professor emeritus. The school named the predecessor of what is now known as the “Mary Alice Hunt Learning Laboratories” for her. Mary Alice worked for two years researching and writing a history of the School of Library Science at FSU. She established the Mary Alice Hunt Endowed Scholarship.

She was a member of Faith Presbyterian Church. Until shortly before her death, she remained quite active—attending conferences and Retired Faculty Club functions, serving on the FSU College of Communication & Information Leadership Board, and taking two art classes at the Senior Center. Mary Alice entered her paintings and pastels in numerous art shows and won many ribbons for them. She loved reading and often gave gifts of books or magazines to friends and family.

An avid FSU fan, she held football season tickets until her death. When she was unable to attend the games herself, she made sure someone used her tickets and would ask for a report following each game.

Mary Alice was a generous friend, teacher, sister and aunt and was much loved by her family, students, friends and co-workers. She was preceded in death by her parents, Blair and Della Grace Henry Hunt, and her brother and sister-in-law Paul and Mary Nell Camp Hunt. She is survived by five nieces and nephews—Kathy Hunt Alford, Sally Hunt Wood, and Tim Hunt all of Tallahassee, Marshall Hunt of Atlanta, Georgia, and Teal Hunt Mitchell of Thomasville, Georgia— plus19 grand nieces and nephews, five great grand nieces and nephews, and her beloved dog and constant companion, Choo-Choo.

Service plans will be announced after the holidays. Memorial contributions may be made to the Mary Alice Hunt Endowed Scholarship Fund, Florida State University Foundation, 2010 Levy Ave., P.O. Box 3062739, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2739. You can view an interview colleague Tom Hart did with Mary Alice in April, 2008 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDT9cARk-fA.

Source: Tallahassee.com, December 22, 2009 (Published in the Tallahassee Democrat, December 22, 2009)
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tallahassee/obituary.aspx?n=mary-alice-hunt&pid=137640388