Olive Hunter

Olive Hunter

Funeral service for Olive Hunter, 96, area Hereford rancher since 1917, will be held today (Thursday) at 2:00 at Peet Mortuary Chapel. Miss Hunter died at her home in Lusk January 12.

Olive Hunter was born September 20, 1884, near Everly, Iowa, the youngest of the four children of William and Helen Hunter. In 1897, the family moved to Dixon, Missouri where they cleared land and developed a commercial apple orchard.

Around 1908, Olive homesteaded in western South Dakota near Belle Fourche. She and her brother Charles worked on ranches in the Little Missouri area of eastern Montana. In addition, Charles trapped wolves and Olive carried mail on horseback, fifty miles round trip. This ranch work and other jobs provided the nest egg for the purchase of their first registered Hereford breeding stock.

In 1917, Olive and Charles rejoined the rest of the Hunter family who had traded their interest in a canning factory in Missouri for the Mashek ranch southeast of Lusk. There the Hunters developed one of the outstanding registered Hereford herds in the west. They sold breeding stock to breeders in many states and many of America's finest herds bear the stamp of the Hunter stock today.

Olive knew cattle as few people do and the remarkable success of the Hunter Herefords is due in no small measure to her knowledge as a breeder.

In the early 1970's, due to advancing age, Olive and her sister Myrtle dispersed their herd and moved to Lusk where they have lived until the present time.

The Rev. Lawrence Kelley will officiate at the memorial service with Minerva Watson as organist.

Active bearers are Harry Brown, Noal Larson, Richard Keenan, S. E. West, Cecil Kaan and John DeGering.

Memorial can be made to the charity of your choice.

Olive is survived by her sister Myrtle, two nephews, Charles Bryant of Riverton and Edward Bryant of Potomac, Maryland, two grand nephews, three grand nieces, five great-grand nephews and four great-grand nieces.

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