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Age 85, died October 6, 2022, in San Diego, California. Born in 1937, to Hunter C. Quistgard and Alberta Olga Quistgard in Santa Rosa, CA., Hunter lived in Villa Grande on the Russian River, growing into a hard-working farm boy on his family's Chalk Hill Road turkey ranch, alongside his brothers Richard, Russell, and Paul and sister Karen Quistgard Misuraca. When the family moved to Santa Rosa, Hunter and his siblings attended Santa Rosa High School where Hunter played football, ran track, served as Rally Commissioner and was elected President of the Student Body. He attended University of the Pacific (then College of the Pacific) and UC Berkeley, selling VitaCraft "hope chest" cookware to single working girls to put himself through college.In 1960, Hunter married Patricia Ryan of Piedmont, CA. They raised their daughters in Sonoma County where Hunter established Hunter Associates, a commercial real estate and leasing company which he ran through the 1960s into the 1980s. In 1963 he became the youngest member of the Society of Exchange Counselors (a national real estate exchange organization) where he remained engaged throughout his life and was named Counselor of the Year in 1984, and President in 1988.
In the 1970s, Hunter was active in the Santa Rosa's 20-30 Club, a regular on the tennis courts of La Cantera, and an avid pilot who hopped around the westernstates in a Cessna 172. He took his family skiing, fly fishing, and backpacking, often landing on dirt airstrips in the Sierra Foothills for weekends in the mountains. He completed a six-week solo backpack on the John Muir Trail in 1977. He ran several marathons and developed a passion for golf. Hunter and Patricia divorced in 1980. In 1981, Hunter moved to Honolulu where he married Pamela Ross. That marriage also eventually ended in divorce. From 1986 to 2019, he was partnered with Lynda Paulson and they made their home first in Napa, then Rancho Mirage, CA and Incline Village, NV, always accompanied by one of several cherished Labrador Retrievers. Among their many adventures was a year spent traveling in Australia and New Zealand.
In 2020, Hunter moved to Baja California, Mexico, to fulfill a long-held dream where he lived surrounded by friends old and new, relishing the "perfect" coastal weather and ocean views.
He is survived by daughters Ames Niika Quistgard and Kaitlin Quistgard; grandchildren Gabe Goreham and Malena Solin; a large extended family, and his beloved companion Patti Misko. He was preceded in death by daughter Marit Quistgard.
No service will be held.
In lieu of flowers, donations maybe made to American Rivers.
(https://www.americanrivers.org)
