Longtime Whittier residents Dorothy and Howard Hunter believed in the value of hard work. A medical supply Sergeant in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during WWII, Dorothy used the skills she'd acquired in the army to find a good office job in Hollywood after the war.
Howard's professional life included work in construction, ownership of an auto repair shop, aircraft engineering, and finally, as Founder and President of Hunter Tools, a company famous for developing the Smitty Wrench and the Magic-Tip Screwdriver. Dorothy and Howard met through work colleagues and were married in 1958. Together, they built a wonderful life full of kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and of course, hard work.
In her later years, Dorothy (aka Dot) desired to give back to her community and country. She recognized that hard work and technical skills had been the keys to the success of her father (a tailor who'd emigrated from Russia in 1903), her husband, and herself. Vocational skills taught in progressive high schools in the 1940's and 50's had nearly disappeared from formal education by the end of the 20th century. However, Dot sensed that a change was coming.
Dot wished to reinvest her industrious good fortune in Whittier's next generation. She envisioned a foundation that would provide encouragement and financial aid to those graduating seniors in the Whittier Union High School District planning to pursue vocational training in the industrial arts or related fields. Honoring her request, the Dorothy P. and Howard D. Hunter Foundation was established in 2008 by Dot and Howard's son, Howard D. Hunter, Jr., and their grandchildren. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more that $400,000 in vocational scholarships.
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