Willard Thomas Huff

Willard Thomas “Will” Huff passed away in his home in New Bern, North Carolina, on March 27th at 89 years of age. He was preceded in death in 2020 by his wife of 66 years, Nancy Kuhlthau Huff, whom he knew since childhood. He was born on February 24th, 1934 to parents Willard Newman Huff and Bertha Lachenmayer of Milltown, New Jersey, and was preceded in death by his sister Janet Catton of Oriental, North Carolina.

He is survived by his four children and six grandchildren: Children Thomas Huff and wife Sophie Huff, Daniel Huff and wife Marty Robertson, Cheryl Ann Huff and husband Michael Morgan, and Kevin Huff and Sara Dexter; and grandchildren Ian and wife Rebecca Wall, Gabriel, Mia, Nathaniel, Luca, and Alexander Huff. He was also close with his great nephew Andrew Rosati of Michigan.

Will was a fiercely loyal and dutiful man, dedicated to making his home and community better places. He was married to his high school sweetheart in a partnership that endured 66 years of cross-country moves, overseas deployments during the Vietnam War, long absences as a career pilot for United Airlines, and many, many sailing trips.

The pursuit of his degree in dairy husbandry at Rutgers (his father was a milkman) via Air Force ROTC led to , Will’s 11 years of service in the Strategic Air Command of the U.S. Air Force had him piloting and commanding KC-135 jets, and took him around the world from Greenland to Okinawa. His long career as a United Airlines captain took him to far-flung destinations like Chicago, Hong Kong, and Iowa’s Quad Cities.

When he officially retired from the airline to Oriental in the early 1990s, he joked that he was actually starting his real work. By the time of his passing, he had spent nearly 70 years of his life in church choirs, locally at Oriental United Methodist Church, Trinity United Methodist Church, the First Baptist Church Community Gospel Choir, as well as secular music ensembles: the Pamlico Chorale, and the Uhoos, a local ukulele band.

He served as Commodore for the Sailing Club of Oriental (SCOO) and also spent 25 years at Oriental United Methodist Church on service and governance committees, active in the United Methodist Men. He loved his time as a reading volunteer for the first grade in Bayboro, and was dedicated to organizing fundraisers, food drives, Christmas caroling, and other church and community events. He truly enjoyed working with his wife to support Hope Clinic while she served as director, including years spent organizing their root beer float benefit booth at the Oriental Croaker Fest. You may have also seen his red truck pulling Hope Clinic’s float in the parade or spotted him at their annual benefit ball, offering a private flight to Ocracoke as an auction prize.

In retirement, Will and Nancy traveled the world by air and by water: including mission trips to Armenia; bareboating in Tonga and the BVI's, cruising the Danube, around Cape Horn and through the Panama Canal; exploring the Galapagos and Antarctica, and sailing their 34’ Hunter sailboat Godspeed up and down the Intracoastal Waterway for more than 30 years, and sailing it as far as the Abaco Islands, Bahamas.

He will be deeply missed. In lieu of flowers the family gratefully suggests memorial contributions to Hope Clinic, Hospice of Pamlico County or Oriental United Methodist Church.

His memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, June 3rd at Oriental United Methodist Church.