Rena Elizabeth Hunt passed away quietly at home on July 12, 2007, at the age of 86. Born on July 2, 1921, to Homer and Elizabeth Stephens as the ninth of 11 brothers and sisters, she spent her early years in the Snohomish area on a farm along the river’s bank not far from the town center.

She graduated from Everett High School in 1941 and enrolled at Seattle Pacific College that fall. When the United States entered World War II in December, she put her studies on hold to join the war effort and ultimately ran a lathe at Washington Gear Works in Seattle making parts for the B-52 bomber. She was a proud member of Machinist Local No. 79. At war’s end she returned to SPC and graduated with the class of 1948. She went on to teach high school in the Central Washington town of Kahlotus, where she met John C. Hunt, a local farmer, to whom she married on June 10, 1950. Their only child, Stephen C. Hunt, was born the following May of 1951 and they moved to Rockford, Wash., that October where she and John farmed for the next 30 years.

In addition to the many demands of operating a farm, Rena was involved in the United Methodist Church her entire adult life becoming a lay lecturer and a scholar in religious studies. She received her Master of Arts in Religion from Whitworth College in Spokane and later earned a additional Master of Arts in Values from San Francisco Theological Seminary. She was highly involved and supportive of the United Methodist Women and treasured her association with these women and their work. Rena and John retired in 1981 and moved to Coupeville on Whidbey Island and became active members of the community, especially Rena through the Coupeville United Methodist Church.

She is survived by her son, Stephen, and one brother Homer Quentin Stephens of Las Vegas, Nev. She leaves many nieces and nephews and their children. Viewing and visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., Thursday, July 19, at Burley Funeral Chapel in Oak Harbor. A graveside service will follow at 11 a.m., Friday, July 20, at Sunnyside Cemetery in Coupeville. Gifts of flowers are appreciated by the family.