Dr. John E. ‘Jay’ Hunt Jr. of Southampton Dies April 22

Dr. John E. “Jay” Hunt Jr. of Southampton died at home on April 22 from complications of myelodysplastic syndrome. He was 79.

Hunt was an honors graduate of Boston College and UVM College of Medicine, where he received the Lamb Foundation Award for the student who best exemplifies the highest ideals of the physician/patient relationship. He completed his internship and residency training at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the John P. Emich MD Award for the Outstanding Senior Resident. After serving as a major at Mather Air Force base in Sacramento, California, Hunt joined Hamptons Gynecology and Obstetrics in 1977. He truly loved his work, the community, his patients, and especially all of those babies, his family said.

At Southampton Hospital, Hunt served as chief of obstetrics, president of the medical staff, and as a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. In addition, he served as president of the Suffolk County Obstetrical Society.

Upon retiring in 2014, he immersed himself in golf and horticulture, completing a course in master gardening at Cornell Cooperative Extension, and joining the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons, where he served on the Board of Directors. Later, Hunt served as a director of the Good Shepherd farm in Bridgehampton.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Carol; their son Dr. John Hunt III (Claudia); grandson, J.B. Hunt; his siblings, Susan DeVito (Felix) of Maine, Peter (Judy) of Massachusetts, and Elizabeth Lorusso of Massachusetts.

A funeral Mass will be held at the Basilica Parish of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on Monday, May 1, at 11 a.m., with a wake at Brockett Funeral Home on Sunday, April 30, from 2-5 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital or East End Hospice.