We regret to advise of the death of Lieutenant Colonel Melvin Ronald Hunt, CD (Ret'd) at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria BC on 17 November 2015 at age 73 after a long battle with kidney disease. Mel served a 23 year military career in the Canadian Forces - first as a Firefighter in the Royal Canadian Air Force and then as a Military Lawyer.
Originally from Toronto, Mel was an orphaned high school drop-out who had a broad experience in life as a construction labourer, heavy equipment operator, truck driver, and boxer before he joined the Canadian Forces in 1960. After his Royal Canadian Air Force basic training in St. Jean PQ, he served as a firefighter at Penhold AB and Marville, France for four years. While at Penhold he was given the opportunity to complete this high school education. This was to lead to his selection for the University Training Program Men program.
After obtaining an Honours degree in Philosophy from the University of Alberta, Mel served as the Chief Administration Officer at Canadian Forces Station Armstrong before he was selected to pursue a law degree at the University of British Columbia. He articled to the celebrated Victoria counsel, Dermod Owen-Flood (later Mr Justice Owen-Flood of the BC Supreme Court), and graduated from the UBC Law School in 1977.
Mel started his service as a military lawyer in 1978 with the Judge Advocate General’s office at National Defence Headquarters followed by working as the Assistant Judge Advocate General in Victoria BC. Mel retired from the Canadian Forces in 1987 as a Lieutenant Colonel and an expert in military law.
Mel next entered private practice and then joined the firm of Dinning Hunter Jackson Law as associate counsel in 1999. He practised in the criminal courts, as Courts Martial, and in the Federal Courts as well as the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal on a wide variety of legal issues including family and personal injury law. He was frequently consulted by other lawyers throughout Canada and retained by current and former members of the Canadian Forces in relation to military grievances, summary trials, human rights and pension matters. Mel was qualified as an expert witness in the British Columbia Supreme Court on military law and military personal matters.
A Celebration of Life service was held on 9 January 2016 at the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, Wardroom (1586 Esquimalt Rd., Esquimalt). Memorial donations may be made to Vancouver Island Kidney Patients Association.
