Johnnie Bryan "J. B." Hunt Sr. was born on February 28, 1927, in Heber Springs, Cleburne County, Arkansas.
After completing seventh grade, Hunt worked at his uncle's sawmill and sold lumber. He briefly served in the army before working as a truck driver for Superior Forwarding Company. To supplement his income, he sold lawn sod.
In 1961 Hunt and his wife, Johnelle, started J.B. Hunt Company in Stuttgart, specializing in the sale and transport of rice hulls to be used as poultry litter, and he invented a machine to compress the hulls. He shifted his focus to trucking and created J.B. Hunt Transport Services in 1969. With the company's growing success, he moved the base of operations to Lowell. J.B. Hunt Elementary School in Springdale is named in his honor.
J. B. Hunt passed away on December 7, 2006.
Johnelle Terria DeBusk Hunt was born on January 4, 1932, in Heber Springs, Cleburne County, Arkansas.
She attended Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway before marrying Johnnie Bryan "J. B." Hunt Sr.
She cofounded J.B. Hunt Company with her husband in 1961, and in 1969 they created J.B. Hunt Transport Services. Hunt was instrumental in the growth and success of their businesses, functioning in numerous roles, including credit manager, secretary-treasurer, and corporate secretary. Hunt has served on the Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute Advisory Board, the Beau Foundation Board of Directors, and the Advisory Council for the Ozark Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Women's Foundation of Arkansas named her 2012 Woman of the Year.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Johnelle and J. B. Hunt and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Red River Feed Company owned by Johnelle Hunt's father, Johnie DeBusk; Heber Springs, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Childhood photo of J. B. Hunt's mother, Alma Naomi Everett Hunt
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: J. B. Hunt (right) with Pauline Harlan, 1940
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) and her brother, David Louis DeBusk, as children
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Young Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) with two friends
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt), 8th grade, 1946
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) at home in Heber Springs, Arkansas, 1949
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) as a teen
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) and friends: (left to right) Patsy Joy Robbins, Wanda "Winelo" Henderson, Minnie Belle Johnson, Johnelle DeBusk, Loretta Davis, Joann Ax; Heber Springs, 1949
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) with her brother, Dennis DeBusk
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Program from Heber Springs senior class play, Susie the Siren, 1950
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) (back row seated, on left) with her sorority sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau at Arkansas State Teachers College, Conway, 1950
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: J. B. Hunt in his red pickup truck, Heber Springs, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: J. B. Hunt and Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) and J. B. Hunt sitting in an Adirondack chair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) in a Heber Springs letter jacket with J. B. Hunt
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: J. B. Hunt and Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) (right) with their friends on Petit Jean Mountain, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: J. B. Hunt and Johnelle DeBusk (Hunt) on Petit Jean Mountain, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Johnelle and J. B. Hunt on their wedding day
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22:
Johnelle Hunt throwing her wedding bouquet with J. B. Hunt at her side
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Friends decorating J. B. and Johnelle Hunt's getaway car before their wedding
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Johnelle Hunt's parents, Johnie J. and Ollie Jane DeBusk, 1953
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: J. B. Hunt with his daughter, Jane Hunt, in front of their Pontiac, 1958
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Johnelle Hunt with her daughter, Jane, and her son, Bryan; 1959
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: J. B. Hunt Rice-Hul Company; Stuttgart, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: J. B. Hunt Rice-Hul Company, Stuttgart, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: J. B. Hunt Rice-Hul truck
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: DeBusk family reunion, 1964
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: J. B. and Johnelle Hunt's son, Bryan Hunt, 1st grade
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Johnelle and J. B. Hunt with their children, Jane and Bryan
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: J. B. Hunt, 1969
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: Johnelle Hunt's mother, Ollie DeBusk, on the front porch holding a stringer of fish, Heber Springs, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: J. B. Hunt with his son, Bryan, (left) and a friend
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Stuttgart Bridge Club: Dr. Jack and Bonnie Pritchard, unidentified couple, Don Underwood, Dr. Dean Laird, Johnelle Hunt, Anne Laird, Betty Underwood, J. B. Hunt, Rayeanne Cocker; Hot Springs, March 1970
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#37: J. B. and Johnelle Hunt (center) with (on left) her mother and sister, Ollie DeBusk and Gloria Duckworth; and (on right) brother-in-law, Jack Duckworth, on their way to Spain, 1971
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#38: Hunt family, 1975
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#39: Johnelle Hunt (left) and her sister, Gloria Duckworth
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#40: Johnelle and J. B. Hunt with Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas, 1980s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#41: Jane and Johnelle Hunt
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#42: Bill Clinton with J. B. Hunt and other business leaders in Lowell, Arkansas, 1979
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#43: Johnelle Hunt (right) with Harry Ward and Hillary Clinton at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#44: Johnelle Hunt on a motorcycle with her husband, J. B. Hunt, standing beside her on the driveway
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#45: J. B. and Johnelle Hunt at the Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#46: J. B. Hunt with his grandchildren: Martin Tinnin; twins, Tessa and Phoebe Hunt; Bailey Hunt; Tarra Tennin; and her cousin, Ellen Tennin; 1991
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#47: Hunt family at the beach, 1995
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#48: J. B. and Johnelle Hunt, March 9, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#49: Hunt family
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#50: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Johnelle and J. B. Hunt; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#51: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Johnelle and J. B. Hunt; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#52: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Johnelle and J. B. Hunt; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#53: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Johnelle and J. B. Hunt; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
