Sister Marie Anthony Hunter (Sister Alice Hunter), a retired educator, died at Our Lady of Victory Center on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, at the age of 97. Service: Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Victory Center. Interment: Mount Olivet. Wake: 6:30 p.m. Monday at OLV. Memorials: Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, 909 W. Shaw, Fort Worth, Texas 76110. Alice Fay Hunter was born in Fort Worth in 1917. She graduated from Our Lady of Victory Academy and, inspired by the example and teaching of Sister Gertrude Moore and Sister Elizabeth Williams, Alice entered the Sisters of Saint Mary in 1936, taking the religious name of Sister Marie Anthony. Sister Marie Anthony was an excellent teacher whose classrooms were always full of music, dance, art and drama. She served as administrator and teacher in Sister of Saint Mary schools in Fort Worth, Beaumont, Dallas and Sherman. Her peak years were those in which she was involved with Learning Math with the Cuisenaire Rods. When this Method was introduced to the Diocese of Dallas in the 1960s, Sister Mary Charles Payne and Sister Marie Anthony became "apostles" of the method. Sister Marie Anthony became the resident expert in the instructional system, which uses relationships of colored "rods" to teach math. Sister Mary Charles used the method to teach Words in Color, a phonetic system of teaching reading using color to show the relationship between oral and written language. Sister Marie Anthony was on the faculty of the University of Dallas for 10 years, teaching elementary school administration and serving as the superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Dallas. Sister Marie Anthony (now Sister Alice) recalled that her happiest years were the 20 years she spent as principal at St. Mary's Parish School in Sherman from 1972 to 1991. The "Sherman Sisters" community of Sister Mary Charles, Sister Alice, Sister Marion Celeste and Sister Regina taught at St. Mary's for 25 years, retiring together from formal teaching in 1991. They continued to serve the parish until 1996 when the community relocated to Our Lady of Victory in Fort Worth. When the Sherman community moved to Fort Worth in 1996, Sister Alice and Sister Mary Charles continued tutoring for a short time at St. George School and Our Lady of Victory School. Although her health declined in recent years, Sister Alice was committed to a life of prayer and community concerns until the end. Survivors: Sister Alice is survived by nieces and nephews, and the Sisters of her religious community.
Published in Star-Telegram on Jan. 25, 2015