FARMINGTON, MI - Robert A. Hund died at his home in Farmington, MI, on March 11, 2008, surrounded by his family after a brief battle with cancer. Hund, who had an advertising/public relations/trade association management company, served as the Managing Director of the Marble Institute of America from 1980 to 1995. Among his many accomplishments, he built association membership from 34 to more than 650, edited and published the industry magazine, Stone Through the Ages, and received several awards for MIA advertising, which he created and which appeared in the architectural and interior design press. As spokesman for what had become the world’s largest dimension stone industry association, he appeared as a featured speaker and panelist at meetings in the U.S., Canada and Italy. He edited the MIA’s Installation Design Manuals II, III, and IV, and also wrote, edited and published the two-volume set of color plates, Dimension Stones of the World. He was a member of the ASTM Dimension Stone Committee C18, served and chaired several of its subcommittees, and contributed to the ANSI A108 Committee for Ceramic Tile Installation and the Tile Council of America Installation Handbook. Hund held professional memberships in the local chapters of the Construction Specifications Institute as well as the American Institute of Architects. In addition to his work with the MIA, he was Public Relations Director for southeastern Michigan’s Great Lakes Ceramic Tile Council from 1963 until 2005. His promotional efforts resulted in the widespread use of hard-surfaced finishing materials (ceramic and thin stone tiles) in areas other than bathroom floors. The Detroit Ceramic Tile Contractors Association honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. It was only the second time in the association’s 75-year history that it granted the award. Hund was a professional baritone, a voracious reader, a storyteller and an historian, and he loved to use his hands - building and painting creative items for his family’s home. He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Carole; their children Kathie (Mike) Nuttle, June Hund; his granddaughter Amanda Black, Cynthia (Roger) Baker, and Jonathan Hund; his sister Shyrl (Richard) Wood, brother- and sister-in-law David and Emily Olson, along with extended family, many lifelong friends and fellow musicians.