Robert Lunt

After Highland I graduated from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Secondary Education Mathematics. Fearing the draft (and recognizing with even my very limited fashion sense that there was noting in my wardrobe that would go well with “Vietnam jungle”), I became an Air Force pilot and flew for the National Guard first in Arizona, and then in Utah when I was accepted at the U Law School. While there I met and married Susan Harmer (HH 65). After receiving a J.D. in Law, we went to New York where Sue worked as night supervisor for the Mount Saini newborn intensive care unit and I earned an LL.M in Taxation at NYU. Returning to Utah I practiced law with my primary client being the LDS Church and its affiliates including the Deseret Management Corporation family. Sue taught pediatric intensive care nursing in Sa

One series of the memories I have shared with few occurred when Jayme Gallenson and I would get and return the ram we used as a mascot at football games. I would drive a 1948 WWII Wiley’s Jeep that had a fold up front windshield and a hand throttle. We soon discovered (1) that if the window was up the ram liked to stick his head out the front to get the wind in his face and (2) Jayme could almost hide in the right seat and still see to control the steering wheel with his left hand and the speed with his right, which would allow me to put both feet up on the dashboard with my hands behind my head. Put the two together, and it appeared that since I couldn’t drive in that position and Jayme was easily overlooked, the ram had to be driving the Jeep as it changed lanes and turned corners. Unfortunately, we soon realized that shocked drivers approaching us sometimes swerved and we were creating a hazard, so we couldn’t do it very often or for long. Still the shock on a face and the occasional swerve were fun to see!

On another occasion Mr. Osborn was showing the chemistry class how to balance electron equations. He would put an equation on the blackboard, then go through the logic and math necessary to produce a correct chemical equation. He then allowed the class to study and discuss the completed example while he cleaned a new section of blackboard and set up the next unbalanced equation. During one such period Jill Keysor asked me to help her understand the process better. At that moment I noticed that Mr. Osborn was just getting ready to explain the next equation, so instead of starting a discussion there wouldn’t be time to finish I decided to tell her in a voice just loud enough to be heard over the entire class talking to “Watch the Wizard.” You guessed it. Just as I began to speak the entire class simultaneously fell completely silent. Mr. Osborn froze at the blackboard for a second before closing his eyes, dropping his forehead to his hand which was now curled with the chalk toward his chin as he slowly shook his head while suppressing a laugh. The class then completely lost it upon seeing his classic reaction. (Yes, I did apologize after class for the unintended interruption.)

Stand one more ego driven episode? At the end of a section on probability, our algebra class took a test where the last question stated that a box contained 4 red, 3 blue and 2 white marbles and asked what would be the most likely color combination of a set of three marbles drawn at random. I initially reasoned that 2 red and 1 blue would be most likely, but after actually making calculations I convinced myself the correct answer was one of each color. When the papers were handed in, I used my discovery as an opportunity to try to impress Janet Vanhouten with my understanding. The next day, it was disclosed that I was the only one in the class who missed the problem. Pushed partly by male ego and partly by a genuine desire to understand where I made a mistake, I asked the teacher (I have forgotten his name) how he had calculated the probability. Skipping details, I pointed out what I thought was an error in his calculations and he defended. The class became very amused as we continued the debate for five minutes at the beginning of the class for the rest of the week. Eventually, Jill Keysor and Christine Orr (both HH 67) decided to perform an experiment where the conducted 84 random drawings with the result being that one of each color was not only the most common result, but the number of occurrences of each color combination was almost exactly as I had predicted. Faced with this evidence, the teacher then submitted our discussion the head of the math department, Donald Kelly, who confirmed my methodology was in fact correct. It felt nice to be vindicated, but the whole episode didn’t help me to ever get a date with Janet.

There are just too many great memories of good friends, talented artists (school plays were fantastic), professional quality Pep Club performances, a state championship in football or basketball every year with many individual great games and moments, some sad moments, and generally so much life to try to go on or I will be at this computer until after the reunion.