Full Text of SR0985 102nd General Assembly
SR0985 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of John "Chief AJ" Huffer of Tuscola, who | 4 | | passed away on March 30, 2022; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer was born in Peoria on December 25, | 6 | | 1937 in the Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers, the | 7 | | child of a Cherokee father and a Menominee mother; six months | 8 | | later, he was adopted by Charles and Dorothy Busey Huffer; he | 9 | | graduated from Urbana High School in 1955 and attended the | 10 | | University of Illinois for one semester before joining the | 11 | | U.S. Marine Corps; he was stationed in California and, during | 12 | | that time, he shot on the Barstow Base rifle team and became a | 13 | | body builder; after he was honorably discharged, he returned | 14 | | to the University of Illinois, where he was a member of the | 15 | | ROTC rifle team and was recruited to be a model for art | 16 | | students; he married Corinne Shreve on July 26, 1959; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer graduated from Bible college and was | 18 | | inspired to start a boys home, which brought him back to | 19 | | Tuscola; the boys home eventually changed to an assisted | 20 | | living home; then, with partners, he opened the We Care | 21 | | Nursing Home in Arcola as well as hotel restaurants in Arcola | 22 | | and Mattoon; he eventually joined the carpenters union in | 23 | | Champaign-Urbana; he later was a contractor and had dinner in |
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| 1 | | the White House with Ronald Reagan as Minority Contractor of | 2 | | the Year; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer was a scrawny kid; he wanted to start | 4 | | weight training at an early age, but his parents made him learn | 5 | | all the muscles before they allowed him to get a dumbbell set; | 6 | | he eventually competed in Mr. America twice and numerous other | 7 | | body building competitions; he represented Tuscola in the | 8 | | Super Natural Physique Classic in 2001, where he won | 9 | | first-place in the Master 55 and over; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer shot a world record of 14,060 wood | 11 | | blocks without a miss over an eight-day period in March 1987; | 12 | | he subsequently landed on the cover of gun magazines, which | 13 | | launched his journey of fame in the gun world; he later | 14 | | developed the Chief AJ Slingbow, which has been sold all over | 15 | | the world; he appeared on a number of reality TV shows, | 16 | | including Top Shot, Man vs Machine, Monster Hunters, and | 17 | | History's Mysteries; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer had a great love for his family; he | 19 | | took his wife, Corinne, all over the country to gun shows and | 20 | | national parks; he spent time in Alaska for the birth of his | 21 | | grandchildren and graduations, and then he would be off on | 22 | | Alaskan hunting adventures; he was blessed to have his | 23 | | granddaughter, Tara, and her family stay with him for the last |
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| 1 | | month of his life and developed a beautiful bond with his | 2 | | 7-month-old great-grandson, Noah; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer was committed to his faith and | 4 | | enjoyed preaching; at 80 years old, through DNA testing, he | 5 | | was blessed to be united with his biological brother, Theodore | 6 | | Yednock; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer was preceded in death by his wife of | 8 | | 62 years, Corinne; his father, Charles C. Huffer; his mother, | 9 | | Dorothy Busey Huffer; his sister, Mary Huffer Hickman; and his | 10 | | granddaughter, Stephanie Corinne Huffer; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, John Huffer is survived by his son, Jason | 12 | | (Janice) Huffer; his daughter, Rebekah (Vince) Baldauf; his | 13 | | grandchildren, Benjamin Burton, Tara Huffer (Lawrence), | 14 | | CoWanda Joy Huffer, Dottie (Cody), and John Baldauf; and his | 15 | | great-grandsons, Bastian Skye Burton and Noah Lawrence | 16 | | Moshofsky Huffer; therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 18 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 19 | | John "Chief AJ" Huffer, U.S. Marine, bodybuilder, preacher, | 20 | | exhibition shooter, and entrepreneur, and extend our sincere | 21 | | condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved | 22 | | him; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to the family of John Huffer as an expression of our | 3 | | deepest sympathy.
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