KENNETH E. HUFFMAN Kenneth E. Huffman was born on April 3, 1930 in Henrietta, Oklahoma to Charles Huffman and Nellie (Rutledge) Huffman. He left this earth surrounded by love at the age of 86 on December 7, 2016. Ken spent his childhood growing up in Dardanelle, Arkansas. Instilled at a young age to be a hard worker, he was picking cotton in the Arkansas fields at the young age of five years old. He was never one to be idle and was a hard worker his entire life. At the age of 14, his family moved to Berkeley, California. From Berkeley, they moved to and settled around Tulelake, California and Klamath Falls, Oregon. There he continued helping support his large family by working in the potato fields. He was lifting and loading 100 pound sacks of potatoes for shipping when he barely weighed 120 pounds! When Ken was 16, he would frequent a little family grocery store where his future wife Jackie often was visiting the store owner's daughter. They soon became a couple, and things were fine until Ken's Dad decided to move the family once again. Faced with the reality of being separated, they decided to marry, so Jackie could move with them. On September 4, 1948, at the age of 16 and 18, they said their vows and started their new life together. The couple lived with Ken's parents for awhile, and Jackie was so excited when they finally got their very own one room cabin around Cave Junction, Oregon. No indoor running water, but that did not matter. They had their own place! In 1950 daughter Sheryl was born followed by daughter Patty in 1953. The young family moved to California when Patty was still a baby. Ken acquired a Cat dozer and secured a job building logging roads for Georgia Pacific. Always a hard worker, he built his business one piece of equipment at a time and advanced to being a logging contractor for GP and then Lousiana Pacific. In 1961, they finally settled in a tiny 2 bedroom house in Fortuna. Daughter Susie was born in 1963, and the family officially outgrew that house. They bought a piece of property and Ken constructed the building pad with one of his Cats on the side of a hill overlooking Fortuna. The house was built and they moved into the final family home in 1967. Times were pretty simple back then. Work took up six days of the week, so that only left Sunday for fun. Jackie and the girls have many fond memories of going on a Sunday drive. It might lead to Petrolia or somewhere up North. For a number of years, Ken was a member of the Eel River Trap and Gun Club and spent many Sunday mornings shooting trap. There was no such thing as a summer vacation. Summer was for working long days in the woods. Vacations came in the winter usually over Christmas and New Year's. Ken loved taking the family to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and continued the tradition once the grandchildren came along. Huffman Logging Company's business grew throughout the years, and Ken was highly thought of and respected by his employees. In fact, some of those employees kept in contact with him throughout the rest of his life. Ken was a member of the ACL (Associated California Loggers) and enjoyed being a part of the Redwood Region Logging Conferences. Ken continued to own and operate Huffman Logging Company up into his late 60's. In 1992, Ken purchased Timberland Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac in Fortuna. The joke was that he bought so many company vehicles for his employees in the logging business, it would be cheaper to just buy the dealership! With being a Fortuna businessman, now Ken had the opportunity and time to join various organizations. He especially enjoyed the Fortuna Rotary. He held several positions throughout the years and enjoyed presenting scholarships to local youth at the end of the school years. In fact, one of the fund raisers for the scholarships was the annual Pheasant Feed. This was made possible by Ken being an avid pheasant hunter. He belonged to a pheasant club in the Oroville area and always took the family hunting. He and the family spent many years hunting on the weekends to provide and donate enough pheasants to support the Pheasant Feed. Ken also took a lot of pleasure in being part of the Apple Harvest Festival by driving a tractor pulling a trailer filled with happy, laughing kids. Ken sold the dealership in 2002 and by then was purchasing small tracts of land, logging them and developing into home building sites. He continued that business up into his 70's at which time he finally retired. Throughout the years, Jackie was always his bookkeeper and welcomed the opportunity to not spend so much time on bookwork! Ken had a great sense of humor and a great big smile. He could dish it out, but also take it. If you happened to get the better of him, you knew it was only a matter of time until he got you back! Ken told the best stories and they spanned the events of his entire life. The favorite stories of his younger days usually involved a car and racing. His cars usually had a spotlight, and it was so much fun to cover that spotlight with a red cloth and pull other cars over! You had to be careful if you argued with him. He wouldn't make a bet unless he knew he would win. If he was arguing, he was usually right and you were going to lose! Ken is survived and missed terribly by his loving wife of 68 years, Jackie. He is also survived by daughter Sheryl (Michael) Fearrien from Grants Pass, Oregon and grandsons Tony, Bret, and Matt; daughter Patty (Paul) Eason from Gardnerville, NV and granddaughter Jenny (Andy) Oddo and great-grandsons Ryan and Jacob, along with grandson Travis; and daughter Susie (Danny) Borges from Carlotta, CA. Ken leaves behind his siblings eldest brother Charles (Louise) and family; brother Keith (Julie) and family; sister Maryann Pine and family; youngest brother Jim (Sang Ae) and family; and youngest sister Rebecca Cargile-Huffman and her family. Ken was predeceased by his parents Charles E. and Nellie Huffman and nephew Charles L. (Skeeter) Huffman. Ken was also predeceased by his Granddog, Chloe Borges (Grandpa's Girl) who died two weeks before him. The family would like to thank all of the caregivers who lovingly cared for Ken in these last few months. It is hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful man. His love, patience, guidance and gentle nature will live on in our hearts forever. We will miss him dearly but will be comforted by our loving memories until we meet again. Ken loved presenting Rotary scholarship to local youth, so in lieu of flowers, please consider donating in his memory to the Rotary scholarship fund at Rotary Club of Fortuna, PO Box 1002, Fortuna, CA 95540. 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