Elizabeth Bunch Hunter

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Elizabeth Bunch Hunter, known affectionately as Libby, passed away peacefully with herfamily by her side on December 14, 2025. 

Born in Norton, Virginia on July 8, 1946, Libby spent her early days with her family in Big Stone Gap and Charlottesville, Virginia. They moved to Kings Mountain, North Carolina when Libby was in the 5 th grade. She graduated from Kings Mountain High School in 1964 and attended Winthrop College where she met her lifelong friends, Linda and Tricia. 

After college Libby entered the workforce, beginning her career at Stearns Catalytic inCharlotte. She was a hard worker and was quickly promoted up the business hierarchy throughout her career as a senior purchaser and procurement manager. While at Flour she worked on U.S. Embassy projects across the globe, and at J.A. Jones her primary project was the port in Morehead City. Libby also worked at several other engineering and design firms over the years, including Raytheon, Day & Zimmerman and Jacobs Engineering. 

Libby was loving but firm, caring but no pushover. As a young girl, her little brothers once picked a fight with her. She gave one of them a black eye that required a few stitches and left a permanent scar. They never picked on her again. That sense of strength and fortitude served as a core value that followed Libby throughout her life. 

Things weren’t easy early on for a single mother raising two young children. She caught the eye of her future husband, Mike, when the two worked at Stearns Catalytic. He consoled her once when she was having a bad day and soon asked her out on a date for ice cream. They hit it off and were married in 1988. Mike and Libby were two peas in a pod, and they never left each other’s side. Together, they raised two children, Kelly and Kris, and taught them values that we can only wish every child could receive from their parents. 

Libby is survived by her loving and dedicated husband, Mike; their two children Kelly Huber and her husband Grant, and Kris Gardner and his wife Jennie; four grandchildren (Kathleen, Liam, Alexander and Phebe); brothers Philip and his wife Diane, Wendell and his wife Karen, and Johnny and his wife Terri; and several nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her parents Kelly and Bernice Bunch. 

A celebration of Libby’s life will be held 2:00 PM Friday, December 19, 2025, at Reins-Sturdivant Chapel with Rev. Eddie Tharpe officiating, followed by a graveside service at Mountlawn Memorial Park with family and close friends. The family will receive friends from 1:00 PM until 2:00 PM prior to the service at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a charitable contribution to Novant Health Foundation, Remarkable Care Fund for KMC, 1701 S. Hawthorne Rd., Winston-Salem, N.C. 27103. 

The family would like to express their deep appreciation for the medical professionals at Novant Health Kernersville, in particular the staff in the Intensive Care Unit for their compassionate care as Libby entered the next phase of life. 

Online condolences may be made to www.reinssturdivant.com. 

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