Donnell R. (Don) Hunt, 98, Professor Emeritus, of Urbana, Illinois departed this earth to spend eternity with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on May 19, 2025. A member of the 'Greatest Generation', Don was born on August 11, 1926 to Ray H. and Leona B. Hunt, the eldest of four children, on a farm near Danville, Indiana. It was during his earliest days helping his father on the family farm when Don developed what would become a life-long love affair with tractors which eventually turned into his life's work. Upon graduation from Danville (IN) High School in 1944, Don responded to his country's call by enlisting in the U.S. Army, with deployment to Nagoya, Japan toward the end of World War II. His country honored it's returning war heroes by offering an opportunity to attend college through the G.I. Bill which Don took full advantage of, graduating from Purdue University in 1951, with Master's and PhD degrees from Iowa State University in 1954 & 1958. It was during his time at Purdue when Don met the love of his life, Dorothea M. (Dot) Hunt. The couple married in Otterbein, IN on September 2, 1951. In 1960, Don jumped at an opportunity to relocate to Urbana, Illinois when he accepted a full professorship at the University of Illinois' College of Agriculture Department of Agricultural Engineering Power Machinery Division where for the next 35 years, Don took great enjoyment in sharing his knowledge and passion for farm machinery with upcoming generations of Ag Engineers, surrounded by the world's epicenter of the farm machinery industry. It was also during his years at Illinois where Don authored a number of publications that advanced the standards in machinery management analytics and optimization. He also authored or co-authored a number of textbooks on the subject of power machinery, several of which remain in circulation today and have been admitted to the Library of Congress. Don's expertise also led to his receipt of a Fulbright Award to teach and perform research in Ireland, in addition to numerous guest lecture engagements in other countries throughout the world including Iran, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands and the Philippines. In 1985, Don was tapped to become Assistant Dean/Director of Cooperative Education for the U of I's College of Engineering, in which capacity he served until his retirement in 1996. Don and Dot took great enjoyment of all of the amenities of life in a university community and were 40+ year season ticket holders to the Illini men's football and basketball teams, in addition to following numerous other Illini sports, accompanying the Illini to many post-season games over the years. Despite all of his accomplishments, Don would say that his crowning achievement was his family, including his wife of 71 years Dot (who predeceased him in 2023), son David (Deborah) Hunt of Danville, IN (who now reside on the Hunt family farm), daughter DeAnne (Matt) Bachtold of Brownsburg, IN, and grandchildren Cale Bachtold, Ethan Hunt, Emily Hunt and Nate Bachtold (all of whom survive). A memorial service and reception honoring Don's life will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Urbana (IL) on Friday, May 30, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. central time. A graveside service will be held at the Hadley Friends Cemetery, Hadley, IN on Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. eastern time.