Meet the Hunts

Woody and Gayle Hunt are slowly stepping into the spotlight. Since 1987, through their Hunt Family Foundation, the Hunts have anonymously donated millions of dollars to various El Paso causes, nonprofits and institutions. Rarely did they publicize what they were doing. But in the past year or so, the Hunts have gone public with some of their most generous donations -- $10 million to Texas Tech, $7 million to UTEP and $1.2 million to the YWCA. Their reason for going public is simple, they said. "It's strategic," Woody said. "If others see what we are doing and that we are committed to El Paso, hopefully they, too, will step up and donate or help in any way they can. The endgame is to make El Paso a better place to live." And their reason for working to make El Paso a better to live is also simple. "This is home," Gayle said. "This is where I grew up. This is where our family is, and this is where we want to be." The Hunts' story - Woody Hunt is a native El Pasoan. Gayle Hunt, formerly Gayle Greve, moved with her family to El Paso when she was 6 years old. She graduated from Austin High School. He grew up in the Lower Valley, graduated from Ysleta High School at age 16 and immediately enrolled at Texas Western College, which is now the University of Texas at El Paso. It was there, in an English class, that Woody and Gayle first met. "All I remember is that she was pretty, very pretty," said Woody, a businessman and scholar who'd rather talk about economics.