A tribute to Stanley Hunt – from his family and friends:

A tribute to Stanley Hunt – from his family and friends:

 

A native of this Valley, Stanley Hunt was born between the wars into a modest, hard-working, godly and loving family. Stanley spoke affectionately of his debt of gratitude to supportive and sacrificing parents who instilled in him (and his brother Ronnie) an ethic of perseverance and of work well done. His father, a dustman by trade, suffered excruciating back pain but refused to give up. Stanley worked in the local shoe industry for many years and (a chip off the old block), proved to be a diligent and meticulous worker.

Stanley and Ethel were married and they had two children, Len and Helen.  Stanley Hunt’s love for his family was just as steadfast as his own parents’ love toward him. Len speaks of a father who encouraged him and created, as he put it, many magic moments for him. Stanley was known and  loved for a thoughtful and contemplative character, not contentious, content to live a simple life; a man who was ultimately comfortable in his own skin and happy to count and share his blessings.

But family life is, as well we know, rarely without its hurts and bruises along the way. It was out of the darker times that God’s light, reflected in God’s people, would shine into Stanley’s life.  Fellowship, faith and friendship became the defining features of the second half of Stanley’s life. He found love and acceptance within the churches at Egdeside and entered into membership at Trinity Bacup and latterly at Sion Baptist Church. Stanley made many friends who will miss him sorely.  He even had his own personal collection of church ministers to whom he himself was a minister! 

By his own admission, Stanley received so much in life but we know that he gave back even more in service to others – as a welcomer and prayer coordinator at the Magdalene Project. He made people feel at ease. He was part of the team at Magdalene which won the Queen’s Award for Volunteering. He was always generous with his time, his resources – and with his uplifting words…

Stanley was a humble man with the greatest and most demanding of all Christian traits…the capacity to forgive and to refrain from judging. Each one of you will have your own unique recollections of Stanley Hunt.  He touched a lot of lives along the way, a bit like the story of the broken pot which never reached the Master’s table full but which had, without even knowing it, watered many plants along the path from the well to the house. For us, Stanley was like that “cracked pot”.

Stanley was not prone to banging his own drum.  We have the privilege of doing that for him today. He did his work and duty well and thoroughly. “Conscientiousness has its rewards”, as Len rightly reminds us. That is certainly true of Stanley. He now has his reward. 

In his father’s personal effects Len discovered a meticulous collection of prayers for others…a treasure that speaks volumes about the man.  Stanley, a man of prayer, prayed beautiful prayers from the heart.

In our last conversation Stanley said to me that he had very few possessions.  I said that, in my view, he was certainly one of the richest men I knew. You can’t put a price on what he possessed.  He was rich in grace and knowledge. We are all the richer for knowing you Stanley.

For me personally, it just wasn’t long enough!

Thank you so much Stanley! 

Address: “The richest man in town…”

When Irene called to tell me Stanley had passed away, the first bible passage that came to mind was this one:

 

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labour, for their deeds will follow them.” (Revelation 14:13)

 

The happiest people, the most blessed according to this Scripture, are the dead who die in the Lord. That’s the Word from above, from heaven. The blessed simply refers to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord, like Stanley. Death can never separate such a person from the Presence or from the love of GOD…

The New Testament speaks no less than 77 times of living or being in Christ. That means that the person lives in Christ and Christ lives in him. That doesn’t stop at death. No, that’s just the beginning. It’s a mystery of course, but that’s what Christian hope is all about…

For such a blessed person death holds no fears.  Stanley died just as he lived, in Christ. Stanley has not died in his sins, but in the Lord; he knew (believed) that the LORD had forgiven him long ago. That gave him the courage to rest contented in his earthly life. Conscientiousness does indeed have its rewards. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Those people of God who endure patiently to the end, those who do their part in obeying God and still remain faithful to Jesus (like Stanley) really will rest in the LORD!

Nothing Stanley did for the Lord will ever be lost or forgotten. These things have gone with him into God’s eternity.

That makes Stanley Hunt among the richest men in town…I am sure you will agree!

One poet put it thus…

 

“I would die my death in Christ,

breathing in His love I’m blessed;

when this frame to dust returneth,

I shall enter into His rest…”

 

What a comfort, an encouragement…

and a challenge to us who are left behind.

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