HOLLY POND — Former Gov. Guy Hunt paused briefly, slowly reached for his handkerchief and wiped away a tear when asked how his late wife Helen would have felt about having her name forever linked to the special needs group home where their daughter Pam will spend part of her time.

“Helen would have been so happy,” Hunt said, shortly after cutting the ribbon officially dedicating Helen’s House, a group home for clients of the Cullman County Center for the Developmentally Disabled (Margaret Jean Jones Center).

“She was so worried about what would become of Pam if something were to happen to the two of us. I think she would be pleased to know that Pam has a place to go and a loving group of people to take care of her,” Hunt said. “I know I’ll rest better at night knowing she has family living nearby and a home she can call her own.”

Those thoughts have been weighing on Hunt’s mind more in recent months than at any time since the former first lady’s death on Nov. 22, 2004, to pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease. She was 70.

Hunt, 72, who has experienced his own medical problems in recent years, was diagnosed in January with lung cancer.

He has yet to undergo any chemotherapy treatments and no surgery is planned in the immediate future.

“I went to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville last week for a series of tests and they told me that everything was small and slow growing, which is good news,” Hunt said. “It’s serious because it’s cancer, but they’re telling me there is no reason to rush into anything. I’ve heard of cases where the cancer has gone away. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were to happen in my case?”

Walking over to Pam, she grins widely, reaches out and gives her dad a hug. She immediately sees someone in the crowd she knows and yells to them with the same excitement. Hunt stands close by with a wide grin of his own.

“She loves the group home, but she knows it’s not home. Home is still with us and she will be with us the majority of the time,” Hunt said. “The other day I came by to get her and I walked out to move the car around and she hollered ‘Wait Pawpaw. She loves being at home with me and Ann and she truly loves Ann. Helen would be so pleased at the way the two of them get along and how much they love one another.”

Hunt and the former Ann Dikes Smith of Adamsville married on Oct. 14, 2005. They live with Pam on Hunt’s farm in Holly Pond.

“Ann was married to her first husband for 51 years and Helen and I were married for 53 years. I tell folks we’ve been married for 104 years,” Hunt said with a smile.

Hunt’s other children, Lynn Harris, Sherry Williams and Keith Hunt, also attended Monday’s dedication ceremony at the new CCCDD group home located on County Road 783, just off of U.S. Highway 278 west of Holly Pond.

The three bedroom home and roughly one-acre lot were purchased for $113,000. The money for the purchase was awarded to CCCDD by the board which oversees the expenditure of excess campaign contributions which accumulated during Hunt’s last run for the governorship in 1998.

“The court ordered that the funds be spent for charitable purposes. I’m not on the board and have no influence over how those funds are spent, but I certainly appreciate that they contributed some of the funds to this project,” Hunt said.

In addition to Pam, now 51, the home which opened Feb. 17 will house two other female CCCDD clients, Judy Knight and Janette Woods.

About 30 people attended the dedication ceremonies at the home, which is the first of its kind to be built on the east side of the county.

“There has been a waiting list of people eligible to be placed in a group home and I’m pleased they were able to find this home. It’s in a very good location and the layout is perfect,” Hunt said.

Terry McGill, director of the Margaret Jean Jones Center, agreed.

“It’s a beautiful location and the girls love it here,” McGill said.

The group home is the sixth for CCCDD in Cullman County.

Hanceville has a boys home with five clients and a girls home with three clients. Cullman has a boys home with seven clients and a girls home with three clients. Vinemont also has a girls home with five clients.

“The oldest home we have dates back to 1994-95 and we’ve yet to have a problem with any of them,” McGill said. “The communities have been wonderful to accept them and they make wonderful neighbors. We’re proud of all of them.”

McGill said it is always amazing how quickly the clients acclimate themselves to living outside their family’s home.

“We’ve had parents who were convinced their son or daughter would never live away from home. Most of the time when they get into the home they don’t want to leave. Just like you and I they are adults and they want to be out and productive and have their own house and be their own person,” McGill said. “I think some of them feel bad about being at home with their parents. I think they feel they are being a burden on their families and they want to show them they can be self-sufficient.”

Currently the Margaret Jean Jones Center in Cullman has around 60 mentally retarded clients enrolled in its day program, about 50 in its workshop, 42 in day care, 30 in the infant/toddler program and 27 in group homes in the county, with several more on waiting lists.

“The day program emphasizes independent living skills, personal hygiene skills, communication skills, basic cooking and other things geared toward helping special needs individuals become as self-sufficient as possible,” McGill said.

“The workshop is a place where someone with mental retardation can come and learn work skills and hopefully be placed in a job in the community. They come here and work at a regular job, earn an income, have Social Security deducted just as you and I do, and they experience what it is to be so-called ‘normal,'” McGill said. “There are several area companies who provide the contract work that enables our clients to feel as though they are productive citizens in this community. They include Wal-Mart Distribution, Stockholm Valve, REHAU, and Perfection Chain and we appreciate them so very much.”

The Margaret Jean Jones Center provides an integrated day care service with a certain percent of the clients comprised of those with disabilities and a certain percent comprised of those without disabilities.

“Those without disabilities gain experience from exposure to someone who is not quite like them and special needs children can model themselves after the children who don’t face the same difficulties and challenges that they do,” McGill said.

The center’s early intervention program is designed to help children who have experienced a delay in their lives, whether it is the result of a vision or hearing impairment, to catch up.

The summer program, which is a joint venture between the city and county school systems, provides a place and activities for involved children whose parents can’t afford to give up work to stay home with the child during the summer months.

Stepping back to appreciate the day, McGill said Helen’s House is a special place that will benefit many special needs people for years to come.

“We’re so thankful to Gov. Hunt for helping to make this a reality, if not directly then indirectly,” McGill said.

Pat Thomason, president of the county’s 310 Board, said there is no doubt that her close friend Helen Hunt would have been so happy to see this day come.

“It’s such a deep pleasure to dedicate this house today and to name it in honor of Miss Helen,” Thomason said. “When she was first lady, she and I traveled around the state attending similar openings. The advancement of this state’s special needs children was something that was near and dear to her heart. God bless this house.”