Paul W. Gunter's Obituary
Paul W. Gunter, a native of McComb, Mississippi, passed away in grace age 79 late Friday afternoon, November 1, 2024, eagerly awaiting his Lord at St. Joseph’s Hospice Care in Gulfport, Mississippi.
The McComb Years. Paul was born August 27, 1945, in the McComb Infirmary, the second son of his father and mother, Virgil Baker Gunter Sr. and Marie Fife Gunter. The City of McComb City was founded by the Illinois Central Railroad, having the only engine switch yard between New Orleans and St. Louis, and called itself the Camelia City of America.
His parents raised Paul and his older brother, Baker, and his younger sister, Kathy Lynn, in Centenary Methodist Church on Delaware Avenue. He attended pre-school Kindergarten at Centenary Methodist, where he was baptized and confirmed age 12 as a church member in the Spring of 1958.
Paul enrolled at North McComb Elementary, later renamed Hughes Elementary, finishing there in May 1957. Paul made devoted friends at North McComb: three remained close to Paul their entire lives; the two who survived Paul, Cindy Felder Murphree and Phillip Rawlings, visited or had extended cell calls during the final months of his life; they also sent him cards and voice messages during his final weeks in hospital and hospice.
Paul attended grades 7-12 at McComb High graduating, age 17, in May 1963. After one year at Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, he transferred to Northwestern State College of Louisiana in Natchitoches. There he finished May 1967 with a B.F.A. in graphic design and linotyping. Paul returned to McComb teaching printing and graphics at McComb High.
The Memphis Years. Paul moved in the fall of 1968 to Memphis, Tennessee, following the much earlier path of his maternal grandparents in the late 1930s and those of his three uncles and three aunts - one of whom lived and worked there as late as March of 1963. They had migrated to Memphis from Port Gibson, Mississippi, living at various times in Memphis during the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, or the Cold War.
In Memphis, Paul first worked for a small printing company located downtown in the Sterick Building. A year later Paul moved several floors upstairs to Ernst & Ernst, one of the nation’s larger accounting firms, working first in its printing office. He remained at Ernst & Ernst and its successors - Ernst & Whinney and Ernst & Young – for 35 years collecting gold Cross pens as he reached different firm milestones until he retired keeping them for the rest of his life.
During his career, Paul was elevated to Office Manager and then to Location Manager. In this latter position, he was responsible for coordinating and streamlining all logistical services and operations between the Memphis office, which had moved to 6410 Poplar Avenue in East Memphis, and independent accounting firms acquired by the Ernst firms between Texas and Florida. Paul’s tasks included redesigning office space and renegotiating office and related leases. He reveled in the friendships, professional relationships, travel, and challenges each new office presented.
Paul also took part in local community activities for Ernst & Ernst. This included using his cooking skills to help prepare several award-winning entries in the renowned World Championship Barbecue Contest as part of the Memphis in May Festival. Paul collected and tried out new recipes for the rest of his life. Southern Sideboards, prepared by the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi, was the bedrock of his extensive cookbook collection. In addition to collecting cookbooks, Paul enjoyed dipping into the works of William Faulkner, Walker Percy, and John Grisham, especially those located in Memphis, Feliciana Parish, Louisiana and Jefferson, Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi.
After moving to Memphis, Paul’s life remained intertwined with those of his family and friends from Mississippi wherever they happened to move and live. Paul returned to see his parents and brothers, arranged and decorated for the outdoor wedding of his niece, and stayed an extended time with his younger and older brothers in Jackson while they took turns rotating in the intensive care unit where their mother was admitted and passed away 30 days later. Her last words to her three sons written on paper were: “Keep our family together.”
Paul’s Life Partner. In 1972, Paul met Richard L. Carter, his life partner for 43 years, at a gathering of mutual friends in Overton Square. Richard became the love of Paul’s life. They traveled in the United States and beyond. Their favorite spots included Talladega Superspeedway and Bristol Motor Speedway for NASCAR racing and musicals in Manhattan, Chicago, New Orleans, and San Francisco. They traveled on several occasions to the beaches and blinding white windmills and buildings of Mykonos and the caldera of Santorini, returning home to hoist the flag of the Republic of Greece in their Memphis backyard.
Returning to Mississippi. Richard passed away March 5, 2015, having made the burial arrangements for Paul and himself at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery in Memphis where members of their respective families were buried.
Not long after Richard’s passing, Paul returned to Mississippi. Paul lived for a time with his older brother and sister-in-law, Baker and Kay Gunter, in the Broadmoor neighborhood of east Gulfport. He later lived in an apartment and then bought a home in Broadmoor where he lived until he passed away.
Paul was preceded in death by his parents, Virgil Baker Gunter Sr. and Marie Fife Gunter, his older brother, Baker Gunter, and his younger sisters, Betty Nell Gunter and Kathy Lynn Gunter. He leaves behind one brother, John C. (Morella) Henegan Sr. He also leaves behind four nephews and one niece: Kevin C. (Cindy) Gunter, Samantha K. (Andy) Gunter-Wilson, Steven G. Gunter, John C. (Audra) Henegan, Jr., and James A. Henegan, and his loving sister-in-law of 62 years, Kay Cullifer Gunter. The two sisters of Richard, Betty Carter and Linda (David) Griste, continue to treasure Paul’s memory as he loved them during his lifetime.
A graveside service celebrating Paul’s life will be held the week after Easter on Thursday, April 24, at 2:00 pm at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN, 38119. Family and friends are requested to meet at the Funeral Home. From there they will walk a short distance to the site where Paul’s name is engraved, and his ashes are interred in a stone bench next to those of Richard’s.
In lieu of flowers the family respectfully asks that memorials be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 6704, Hagerstown, MD 21741, or St. Joseph’s Hospice Center, 1240 Broad Ave., Gulfport, MS 39501.
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