Class: 1968
Major: Government
Residence: Minneapolis, MN
Deceased: July 23, 2016
Alumni survivors: Ms. Nancy Hubbell Bunnett ’69 W68 (Widow/Widower)
Alfred Boulan Bunnett, age 70, died July 23, 2016, in Minneapolis after several years of poor health. Al was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in Oregon, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. In 1968, he graduated from Carleton College where he majored in government and met his wife Nancy; they married in 1970. Expecting a teaching career, he entered graduate school at the University of Illinois and spent a year in Germany doing dissertation research. Short of completing his Ph.D. in history, he concluded that the poor academic job market was not worth pursuing and returned to Minnesota where he began work in human resources at the State of Minnesota, which lead to a long career as a compensation consultant. His work gave him opportunities to learn about different jobs and industries, utilizing his innate curiosity, analytical abilities, and interest in people. Al was an enthusiastic father to his son Sam and known for his witty callouts to Sam and his baseball teammates. The history professor side of Al expressed itself in an ability to speak about array of topics, drawing on obscure facts and anecdotes. He was a practical guy around the house, a handy man who enjoyed cooking. Al is survived by his wife Nancy and son Sam in Minneapolis; mother-in-law Esther Hubbell; in-laws Elaine and Michael Herzog and Douglas and Sarah Hubbell; nieces and nephews Will Bunnett, Beth Stehulak, Hannah Herzog, Diana and Daniel Hubbell; and a beagle. His parents, Joseph and Sara Bunnett, and two brothers, Peter and David, died earlier. An informal gathering to remember Al was held at the Weitz Center at Carleton College on August 17, 2016.————————————————————————————————–A bunch of us were lingering in the Twin Cities after graduation, Lynn Elliott, Paul Menzel, Al Bunnett and myself, to name a few. This was when I got to know Al and appreciate his humor and his steadfastness. I also remember his presence at a New Year’s Eve party at Lynn and my apartment, when the weather dropped to -45 degrees and no one’s car would start. Forty people, Al included, spent the night. Morning came to visions (?) of beer cans and cigarette butts and hungry people. Lynn, Al, and I made French toast for 40 and I can safely say it was my last New Year’s Eve party for the next 20 years.Meryl Moritz ’68——————————————————————————Al lived next door to me on 3rd Musser our freshman year and then we roomed together on 1st Davis our sophomore year and on 4th Davis our junior year. Al was one of the most relaxed and funniest people that I knew at Carleton (check out the “shaving-cream” photo opposite his bio in the 25th-reunion bio book). On more than one occasion when I saw Al after we graduated, somewhat jokingly (I think) he would mention that I was responsible for his being married to Nancy Hubbell ’69. He said this because fall term sophomore year we were in an 8 a.m. Principles of Economics class together along with Nancy and in the first class I sat between Al and Nancy who was attending her first class at Carleton and was a bit of a chatterbox that morning which was a bit too much for me at 8 a.m. On the way out of the class, my only comment to Al was “you can sit next to her next time” and the rest was history with Al and Nancy being married a couple of years after we graduated and remaining married until Al died in 2016.Tom Kenyon ’68
Comments
A bunch of us were lingering in the Twin Cities after graduation, Lynn Elliott, Paul Menzel, Al Bunnett and myself, to name a few. This was when I got to know Al and appreciate his humor and his steadfastedness. I also remember his presence at a New Year's Eve party at Lynn and my apartment, when the weather dropped to -45 degrees and no one's car would start. Forty people, Al included, spent the night. Morning came to visions (?) of beer cans and cigarette butts and hungry people. Lynn, Al, and I made French toast for 40 and I can safely say it was my last New Year's Eve party for the next 20 years.
Al lived next door to me on 3rd Musser our freshman year and then we roomed together on 1st Davis our sophomore year and on 4th Davis our junior year. Al was one of the most relaxed and funniest people that I knew at Carleton (check out the “shaving-cream” photo opposite his bio in the 25th-reunion bio book). On more than one occasion when I saw Al after we graduated, somewhat jokingly (I think) he would mention that I was responsible for his being married to Nancy Hubbell ’69. He said this because fall term sophomore year we were in an 8 a.m. Principles of Economics class together along with Nancy and in the first class I sat between Al and Nancy who was attending her first class at Carleton and was a bit of a chatterbox that morning which was a bit too much for me at 8 a.m. On the way out of the class, my only comment to Al was “you can sit next to her next time” and the rest was history with Al and Nancy being married a couple of years after we graduated and remaining married until Al died in 2016.