Jimmy Newton Huff, 79, died June 12, 2008, at his home.
A celebration of his life will be scheduled later.
Jimmy was born on Oct. 2, 1928, at Baker City to Clarence C. and Minnie Z. Wilson Huff. He was raised and educated in Pine Valley, graduating from Pine Valley High School at Halfway.
Jimmy was the youngest of nine surviving children born to Clarence and Minnie. There were seven boys and two girls. He went by the name of Jimmy to prevent confusion and misdirected mail due to others named Jim Huff.
He married Bethel Goodwin on Christmas Eve 1947at Baker City. They had two sons: Lyle and Gordon.
Jimmy’s working life included some time at Goodwin Sawmill, and Silver Eagle at Baker City and Pendleton.
In 1953 the family moved to Darwin, Calif., on the edge of Death Valley. Jimmy worked in a lead mine for the Anaconda Copper Co. He was employed by Morrison Knutson during the building of the dams on the Snake River and worked for a time for the U.S. Forest Service.
Jimmy was an accomplished equipment operator, known to be smooth and easy on the equipment he operated. He spent the last 20 years of his working life as City Of Halfway maintenance supervisor,
Jimmy enjoyed hunting and was involved in the early years of the Hells Canyon Junior Rodeo. He enjoyed trail grooming and participating in other Panhandle Snowmobile Club activities.
He never missed a chance to ride his four-wheeler, whether it was to irrigate or pick huckleberries or fish with Bethel. He was a charter member and honorary chairman of “The Pine Valley Ladies Aid Society” (not to be confused with the ladies group at the Presbyterian Church). The three members performed “honey-do” jobs for women in the community. Only two members remain to carry on this important work, his family said.
Jimmy was a magnet to family nieces and nephews. He taught them to eat pickles on their ice cream.
He loved seafood and enjoyed a good steak on his birthday and was rarely without what he called “potato salad” (a popular beverage). Friends and family he left behind will miss his sense of humor and willingness to do what needed to be done.
Survivors include his sons, Lyle Huff, and his wife, Lauran, of Haines, Alaska, and Gordon Huff of Cambridge, Idaho; two brothers, Dean, and his wife, Aleah, of Auburn, Wash., and Wayne, and his wife, Juanita, of Lostine; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; three sisters-in-law, Ada Marie Litts of Longview, Wash., Grace Gulick of Halfway and Geralean Sneddon of Reedsport; and a number of nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers; two sisters; by his wife, Bethel, who died in 2007; and a grandson, who died in 2005.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Halfway/Oxbow Ambulance Service through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home, P.O. Box 543, Halfway, OR 97834.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, July 8, 2008
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor