Friends, colleagues and students were saddened and stunned to learn of the COVID-19-related death of history and civics teacher John Huffman Sunday at the age of 54.
Immediately following news of Huffman’s death, his fellow teachers at Cross Creek High put up a memorial at his classroom door where his students could write notes remembering him and his dedication to his profession.
Interviews with Huffman’s friends and colleagues show that he was a man very deeply loved in the community.
Hubert van Tuyll of Augusta University first encountered Huffman in 1991 in what was van Tuyll’s first quarter teaching history at the then-Augusta College. Huffman was a student who wanted to teach history one day, and the pair bonded quickly.
“The first thing I noticed about John was his sense of humor,” van Tuyll recalled. “He was an avid gun collector and worked at the Gun Cabinet selling firearms while he was in college. When people would ask him what type of job he had, he would deadpan and say that he was a merchant of death.”
Huffman and van Tuyll’s relationship would evolve from that of professor and student to that of life-long friends. This would be a pattern in Huffman’s life as he would go on to form that same type of relationship with his former students.
Erich Frazier was one of those students. The two became pals after Frazier took Huffman’s archeology class at what was then Augusta State University.
“He was so unique, he kept up with his students,” says Frazier. “He would call me up just to say ‘hi,’ and we would talk for hours about history and gun collecting, the stuff we were both into.”
The pair would end up spending a sweltering summer at the vault in the old Columbia County courthouse searching records to identify graves whose tombstones had eroded away the names.
“He was committed to studying history. It was his passion and his hobby,” Frazier says.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
John Huffman’s older brother Rick Huffman says he is not surprised at the accolades coming in far and wide about his brother’s character and devotion to his students and said his brother John got his energy and drive from their father.
“My father was a U.S. veteran who became a banker. He was very athletic and got into sports. Our dad was always busy. He always kept moving,” the elder Huffman brother explains. “John wasn’t into sports, but he put that same energy into studying history and teaching it to whoever would listen. He was just like our dad.”
Huffman says his brother would beam from ear to ear when he would encounter former students who recognized him on the street and told him that they only got interested in history after taking his class in school.
“He had faith in his students, even the ones who didn’t want to learn. He was truly just a wonderful person,” Huffman said of his little brother John says. “I have lost my best friend.”
Funeral announcements are pending, but Rick Huffman said they would occur when weather was warmer and social distancing outside would be possible.
Scott Hudson is the Editorial Page Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
[adrotate banner=”44″]
