Franklin Hunt

On January 13 Franklin Griggs Hunt passed away in his home in Santa Fe at the age of 91.

Franklin was born in Jenks, Oklahoma, on December 21, 1930, to John W. Hunt and Alta Johnson Hunt. His beloved older siblings were Virginia Lee Underwood, John W. Hunt, Jr., and Alta Joyce Underwood.

Upon graduating from high school, Franklin was awarded an NROTC scholarship and attended Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1952 with an AB in archaeology. He served in the navy for three years as a junior lieutenant during the Korean War aboard the USS Albany in the Mediterranean where he served as main gunnery officer and chief petty officer. Upon discharge, he returned to Oklahoma where he met Marilyn Maxfield, who would become the love of his life. He chose to attend Harvard Law School in order to be near her and pursue a courtship. They were married in 1958 and were devoted to each other for 63 years until she passed away in October 2021.

After he graduated from law school in 1959 with a JD, the couple moved to New York City where he eventually became senior partner at Lord, Day & Lord. His specialty was maritime law. He wrote several articles for Commentary Magazine, and served on the board of the Institute of Intercultural Studies.

Years later when Franklin and Marilyn began splitting their time between New York City and Santa Fe, he was able to devote more of his time to archaeology. He was a board member of Santa Fe’s Friends of Archaeology, where he ran lecture series and participated in field work.

Throughout his life Franklin enjoyed and pursued many intellectual and cultural pursuits, including physics, math, and history; dance, jazz, travel, skiing, and camping; Harvard and Oklahoma University football; debating politics, playing chess and building perfect fires. He was a natural mentor, taking under his wing friends, colleagues, petty officers under his command, younger extended family members, and many more. Most of all he loved his family and holding Marilyn’s hand.

Franklin is survived by his daughters Laura Van Arnam (Rick) and Molly Hunt (Mark Sardella), two granddaughters Emma and Elizabeth Van Arnam, sister-in-law Marjorie Hunt and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A burial service will be held on March 23rd at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. A celebration of both Franklin and Marilyn’s lives will be held May 21, 2022, in Santa Fe, NM. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Center for Excellence in Education at https://www.cee.org/ are welcome.