|
The Cypress region lost a member of one of its pioneer families
Wednesday when Ms. Wilhelmina Van Hunnick succumbed to a valiant,
multi-year battle against cancer. Known as Willi to neighbors
and friends, Ms. Van Hunnick’s parents emigrated to the area in the
1920s to develop the dairy, farm, and home where she lived until her
death.
Ms. Van Hunnick played a significant role in
the Anaheim Union High School District as a teacher and supporter of
the AUHSD Performing Arts Center at Kennedy High School. She made
donations of money and time to the center because of her life-long
interest in music and performing arts.
As a business teacher at Kennedy High School
for over 32 years, Ms. Van Hunnick proudly shared that her former
students worked all over the world.
“My love is teaching and working with young
people,” she said. “I receive great satisfaction in seeing my former
students mature and develop as responsible, successful citizens living
around the world.”
Humble to a fault, Ms. Van Hunnick would never
admit that her students’ success could be traced to what they learned
in her classroom--how to be strong, caring leaders, unafraid of
challenges, passionate about charting a course toward happiness and
success.
Ms. Van Hunnick left behind an unblemished
legacy of excellence when she died. The outpouring of love and
admiration that followed the news of her passing isn’t surprising,
given the countless people she inspired over the years. But the depth
of that feeling would surprise the woman who never celebrated her own
successes and accomplishments, never really acknowledged to herself
what a huge presence she was in the lives of others.
Indeed, Ms. Van Hunnick’s successes and
accomplishments were impressive. She was named Kennedy’s Teacher of the
Year three times, and Orange County Teacher of the Year. She was a
department chair, a member of the teachers’ negotiation team for 15
years, and served on numerous district committees. She was adviser for
the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), the national
organization for students interested in business and leadership. In
addition, she served on the California FBLA Board of Directors for more
than 20 years, was elected to the National Board of Directors, was
named California FBLA Adviser of the Year, and California Outstanding
Adviser of the Year by the national FBLA organization. She also helped
develop the district-wide Career Exploration Opportunities program, and
was president of the board of directors of the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts Foundation.
But the accolades and awards were secondary to
her main focus, which was always her students, said Mr. Ron Hoshi,
former choir director at Kennedy. “It was always, always about the
kids. I think of all her work with FBLA over the years; she just worked
so hard. She commanded respect because people knew how hard she worked.
She didn’t just demand a lot out of people without working alongside
them. Her work ethic was so strong. I think she learned that from her
parents.”
Garrett and Anne Van Hunnick had emigrated from The
Netherlands. “Mother was the business person, and dad was very good at
selecting cattle that were good producers,” said Ms. Van Hunnick’s
sister, Elizabeth. “They were very successful.” Ms. Van Hunnick
literally watched the region change from dairy and farmland into a
significant metropolis that included the city of Cypress and other
municipalities.
Ms. Van Hunnick graduated with a business
major from the University of Southern California. She was a USC
associate, and served on the Humanities Committee for Letters, Arts,
and Science. She was a big Trojan sports fan, too.
Another of her loves was travel, and she kept
traveling until she couldn’t travel any more. Of course, she visited
The Netherlands many, many times to see friends and relatives. She
visited Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, from Japan to
Singapore to Bali, India, South America, Canada, and throughout the
United States.
Ms. Jennifer Sasai, who was in FBLA at
Kennedy, recalls that Ms. Van Hunnick encouraged her to travel, too.
“She instilled in me the importance of
investing and business, but also encouraged me to enjoy life and make
time for things that matter most. She shared that before she was 30 she
had already traveled the world, and encouraged me to do the same.”
Ms. Sasai now teaches at Walker Junior High
School, and says, “I became a teacher because she was such an
inspiration to me. I think about the countless hours that she dedicated
to her students, so many nights and weekends she spent working with us.
I want to do the same for my students, because of her dedication.”
Mrs. Jeanne Cusack also traveled with Ms. Van
Hunnick, her former teacher. She recalls with a chuckle how she felt
walking into her classroom for the first time, in 1971.
“I was afraid. Wasn’t everyone? She was very
structured, very demanding, and she had the highest expectations. Yet
there was never a time when she asked for something from you that she
didn’t believe you could do. She believed in you, even when you didn’t
always believe in yourself.”
Mrs. Cusack was able to get over her
intimidation to form her lifelong bond with Ms. Van Hunnick. That was
true of countless students over the years. They’d drop by after they
graduated, write her letters or emails, and call her for advice, or
just to hear her strong, distinctive voice again.
Mr. Arthur May taught band at Kennedy, and was
one of the many colleagues who remained close to Ms. Van Hunnick after
she retired. He recalls being in department chair meetings, where
everyone was fighting to be heard--until Ms. Van Hunnick spoke. “It was
like that old E.F. Hutton commercial—when Willi talked, people
listened.”
Services for Ms. Van Hunnick will be held at
10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 23 at the AUHSD Performing Arts Center at
Kennedy High School, 8281 Walker Street, La Palma. In lieu of flowers,
the family requests
that donations be made to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Foundation, P.O. Box 1453, Cypress, CA 90630-6453.
|
|
|
|