Editing Lester C. Hunt (section)

==Early years==
Lester C. Hunt was born in [[Isabel, Illinois]] on July 8, 1892, a son of William Hunt and Viola (Callaway) Hunt.<ref>{{cite book |date=1946 |title=The National Cyclopedia of American Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zJQAQAAMAAJ&q=%22hunt,+lester+callaway%22 |location=New York, NY |publisher=J. T. White |page=540 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He was raised in [[Atlanta, Illinois]], and graduated from Atlanta's high school in 1912.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 17, 1912 |title=Nineteen Will Graduate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-weekly-pantagraph-graduate/151897144/ |work=The Weekly Pantagraph |location=Bloomington, IL |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=February 11, 1918 |title=Lieut. Hunt Weds |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pantagraph-weds/151898265/ |work=The Pantagraph |location=Bloomington, IL |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Hunt played semi-professional baseball in Illinois, and visited Wyoming for the first time at age 19, when he joined a team in [[Lander, Wyoming|Lander]].<ref name=nytobit />

Hunt attended [[Illinois Wesleyan University]] from 1912 to 1913, where he was a member of [[Tau Kappa Epsilon]] fraternity, and then worked as a railroad switchman to put himself through dental school at [[Saint Louis University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Distinguished Alumni |url=https://www.tke.org/about/distinguished-alumni |publisher=[[Tau Kappa Epsilon]] |access-date=November 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1961 |title=The National Cyclopædia of American Biography |volume=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UDcOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22lester+c.+hunt%22+%22wesleyan%22+%22year%22 |location=New York, NY |publisher=J. T. White Company |page=263 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> After graduating with a [[Doctor of Dental Surgery|DDS]] degree in 1917, he moved to Lander to establish a practice.<ref>{{cite magazine |editor-last=Kirk |editor-first=Edward C. |date=September 1917 |title=Dental College Commencements: St. Louis University, Dental Department |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NB8xAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA948 |magazine=The Dental Cosmos |location=Philadelphia, PA |publisher=S. F. White Dental Mfg. Co. |page=948 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He joined the [[Army Medical Department (United States)#Dental Corps|United States Army Dental Corps]] when the United States entered [[World War I]], and served as a lieutenant from 1917 to 1919. After postgraduate study at [[Northwestern University]] in 1920, Hunt resumed his practice in Lander. He was president of the Wyoming State Dental Society and began his career in government when appointed as president of the Wyoming State Board of Dental Examiners, serving from 1924 to 1928.<ref name=nytobit /><ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000975 Hunt, Lester Callaway - Biographical Information] - Congressional Biography Directory</ref>