June Hunt, a popular evangelist and an heiress to the Hunt Oil Co. fortune, spoke candidly Thursday about her difficult life growing up, her struggles to forgive and her relationship with her father, H.L. Hunt.

Ms. Hunt was the luncheon speaker at a meeting of the U.S. Christian Chamber of Commerce. About 40 people gathered at the old Ambassador Hotel south of downtown Dallas to hear her speak about forgiveness, a topic she delves into her latest book, How to Forgive ... When You Don't Feel Like It.

She said she struggled for years to forgive her father, who treated her mother abusively.

Her mother, she said, dealt with immense guilt for the mistakes she made – among them, having an affair with Mr. Hunt while he was married, an affair that led to the births of June, a brother and two sisters.

All of this, Ms. Hunt said, caused her to see her father in a negative light.

“I saw things through a black filter,” she said. “I didn’t want to see the good that he did. My mother saw past his faults to see his needs. I only saw his faults.”

Over time, Ms. Hunt began to forgive her father, eventually thanking him for the good he did for her and for the community, she said.

But it wasn’t until his death that she saw him in a better light.

Family members told her that her grandfather had been extremely violent — so violent that Mr. Hunt often times slept on church pews to avoid going home. Ms. Hunt said her father never spoke about his father, and rarely spoke about his childhood.

Ms. Hunt has written more than 30 books to guide people through their own problems, and she hosts a Christian radio show five times a week. It is part of her counseling ministry, Hope for the Heart.