Beth was born in Plant City, Florida and attended local schools there. When she was thirteen years old, she went
to a summer church youth camp,
and later to Tampa for a work day in the Rosa Valdez Settlement
House, where she met Mary Lou Barnwell, who influenced her. That
summer Beth made a commitment to full-time Christian service.
When she finished two years at Florida Southern College, she
caravanned and was offered employment as a church youth director
in Parkersburg, West Virginia, since she didn’t have the
money to pursue her studies. She applied to the Woman’s
Division for a scholarship. They accepted her candidacy as a
missionary, but refused the scholarship, because she would be too
young to work abroad when she finished studying. The pastor of
the church where she worked introduced her to Berea College in
Kentucky. There she was able to finish her university education.
At Berea she met Hunter.Hunter was born in Shinnston, in central West Virginia, of devoted Methodist parents. He went to school there through high school, where he was active in 4-H Club and rural youth fellowships. He attended West Virginia University schools, then enlisted in the Navy for battleship duty and later was an officer on an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific. This was his first contact with Third World people, on the islands there. The Navy sent him to Berea College to train as a chaplain, and there he met Beth. They were married in 1945 after Beth’s graduation. Hunter soon went overseas for three months and later finished his degree at Berea in 1947. They had a daughter while they were at Berea. He then went to Drew Theological Seminary, and Beth taught school and received a PhT degree (Putting Hubby Through). Both did a year’s graduate study under Agricultural Missions, Inc. at Cornell University, after being accepted as missionaries to the church in Southern Rhodesia. He was a member of the Kentucky Conference, but they were commissioned in the West Virginia Annual Conference by Bishop Wicke.
Hunter transferred to the Southern Rhodesia Conference while he worked in churches and schools. Beth, besides raising their four daughters, wrote Sunday School lessons for the Conference, and taught Latin and English. Hunter was active in rural work. They were both in Conference Evangelism and Education, and Beth in Conference Women’s Bible Training.