Charlene Marie Hunt passed away on Oct. 31, 2017, in her Olympia home. She was born in Aberdeen, Wash. on Dec. 8, 1948, to Walter and Katie Miller. Char graduated from Aberdeen High School, 1967, and Western Washington University, 1971.

Politics and government sparked her interest at an early age. While at Western, she was active in the Young Democrats and numerous campaigns. During the summer of 1970, she attended a YD state board meeting at Sun Lakes State Park where she met a Pasco teacher and city councilman, Sam Hunt. In 1971, she interned in the Washington State Senate and in February had her first date with Sam. The attraction was immediate and the courtship short; they were married Aug. 14, 1971, in Aberdeen. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, they settled down in Pasco. In 1972, she was elected National Committeewoman for Washington’s YDs.

The 1972-73 legislative sessions were spent in Olympia while she served as Legislative Assistant to Representative Ed Ellis. In 1974, Sam accepted a job in Olympia; so they packed up and moved across the mountains. Sam and Char welcomed their first child, Hillary in December that year. Their first stay in Olympia was brief because Sam accepted a job with US Senator Warren G. Magnuson. In 1975, they moved to DC and then bought a townhouse in Gaithersburg, Md. Nathan was born in October 1977. Char raised the children, was elected to the townhouse community council, and volunteered at St. Rose of Lima church and for Congressman Don Bonker.

1981 saw the family returning to Olympia when Sam accepted a job with the Washington State Senate. Char was involved in numerous campaigns, including serving as statewide coordinator for the 1984 Gary Hart Presidential campaign. She was a delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Politics and campaigns were always on the agenda as she hosted numerous fundraisers and meetings. Of course, this included devoting time to Sam’s races for North Thurston School Board and state legislature.

Hillary and Nathan were the center of her life. She devoted full-time to raising them until Nathan was in the fifth grade. She then took several session legislative jobs, including several years as the House Page Supervisor. Other jobs included work for the Health Care Authority and the Department of Labor and Industries. She served as a lector at St. Michael Catholic Church for over 20 years and more recently was a regular at St. Placid Priory services.

In 2004, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and her world began to change. After surgery, for 13 years she had at least one series of chemotherapy each year. She fought odds that said she had two years to live. Wigs are hot and scratchy, so her friends made her many brightly colored chemo caps that became her trademark.

She achieved many of her lifetime goals, including seeing both children graduate from college, get jobs with health benefits, see Nathan get married, celebrate the birth of Hillary’s son Rory, and getting to spend three and a half years with Rory. She loved her annual Mazatlán vacation with Sam where they shared each other’s birthdays and enjoyed sun, shrimp, and relaxation.

Char loved to sew, and in retirement joined a group of women who made quilts and blankets. The group discovered the Linus Project, a national organization that has made over 6 million quilts and blankets for children in need. They became part of the Pierce, Thurston, Mason County Linus Chapter. She was instrumental in gaining passage of a Washington Senate resolution in 2017, the first such recognition the national organization has received.

Survivors include her husband Sam, daughter Hillary and grandson Rory, son Nathan and daughter-in-law Amanda, numerous nieces and nephews, and brother Jerry of Vancouver, Wash. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Walter, and sisters Lorna and Kris.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Linus Project, the Young Democrats of Washington, Heifer International, or Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. A mass of Christian burial will be held on Friday, Nov. 17, at St. Michael Catholic Church in Olympia. The service will be preceded by a Rosary at 11:15, noon mass, followed by a reception in the church gathering space and interment at 2:30 at Odd Fellows Cemetery.