Walter John Huff
(1915-1961)

Walt had only one sibling, an older brother Joseph Huff (1910 - 1960).

His father, Walter M., was a self employed carpenter working from a home workshop. They owned their home in Southern Paterson at 187 Sussex Street. On the property they also had a 3-story cold water flat, which was rented.

The family belonged to Saint Boniface Roman Catholic Church in Paterson, a German church that welcomed immigrating German Catholic families. This church was important as a religious and social base for the family.

Marie had a large extended family in the area. Her parents and brothers ran a truck farm in the Richfield section of Clifton. As the oldest daughter she helped raise her younger siblings and later in life cared for her mother and single brothers.

An important part of Walter's life was a cabin his family owned in rural Stokes State Forest in Sandyston Township, NJ. The property was used for family hunting and fishing as well as summer vacations. It was a place to relax and enjoy the outdoors away from the city.

Walter was educated in Paterson schools - Saint Boniface grammar school graduating June 1928; Central High School graduating in June 1932; and then Paterson Junior College where he studied Business. He graduated in 1933 at the beginning of the depression. It was not an easy time for the family, but Marie was resourceful raising her own food and cutting corners. During the depression his father worked for a local bank clearing out foreclosed houses. From this he collected some very interesting items.

During the early 1930's Walter carried on a correspondence with a young man in Germany, possibly a relative his age. The letters from Germany are in that language and need translation.

Walter began a small trucking business carrying goods between the city and country. It showed promise as the Second World War approached. It was also about the same time he began dating his future wife, Noreen Weir (1915-1976), who he met through their friends Jack Post and Anne Smith.

Letters Walter wrote to Noreen in 1938 and 1939 while on vacation show he enjoyed travelling. In the first letter he and his friend Jack Post went to Norfolk, Virginia by boat and after exploring the area took a train to West Virginia where they visited a coal mine. The later letter reported a trip to Atlantic City.

Then came Pearl Harbor and the war. At the age of 25 Walt's October 1940 draft card listed him as 5' 11" and 162 pounds. To avoid being drafted into the Army he chose to enlist in the U.S. Navy where he was based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, not far from home and Noreen. He was fortunate to be on a ship traveling primarily to Trinidad in the Caribbean, so that he did not see any action. During this period he corresponded with Noreen regularly and saw her when in port.

1942 with brother Joseph and parents

Their first child, Janet, was born a year later on Sept. 11, 1943. At this time Noreen went to live with her in-laws in Paterson.

Walter was discharged September 10, 1945 as a Storekeeper First Class. After his release from the Navy he had a difficult decision to make. His preference was to pick up the trucking business again and try to build it. But he was married now with a daughter and both his mother and wife felt that would be too risky for the family. Reluctantly he gave up his dream of independence and took a job with Howard Zinc, the leading manufacturer of automobile seat covers. In the 1940's and 1950's seat covers were a must for new cars.

Their second child, Nora, was born on February 2, 1948. The family's health was reasonably good, but one challenge was that Nora had Rheumatic Fever as a child and required a lot of care for a year.

Money was tight and they continued to live with his parents until they were able to buy their own house in 1951, a small cape at 55 Emerson Avenue on the West side of Paterson. They planned to close on the house in the fall of 1950, but at the last minute the owner, a widow, backed out. However two months later she changed her mind again and the closing was held in April 1950. The cost was $12,600 with a mortgage of $8,600 from the Paterson Savings and Trust Company. It was paid off early in 1954 by Walter's parents.

From this point life was pretty consistent. Walter did well at work, but the company was stingy and pay was tight. The core family, including his brother Joseph with wife Audrey and son Joe, was close with Sunday church and dinner together. And there were the regular trips to the country where there were frequent large weekend parties. For hobbies Walter enjoyed photography and making flys for fishing.

1950 Huff family: Seated Nora, Janet & Joseph. Standing Noreen & Walter J., Walter M. & Marie, Joseph & Audrey.

Walt's primary activities were through the church. He was a member of he Holy Name Society of St. Boniface. He was a life long Democrat and favored Pontiacs to drive.

Vacations, other than the country, were infrequent. There was an annual trip to the New Jersey shore and in 1955 Walter took the family on a car trip through New England and Quebec.

In September 1956 Walter's father died of cancer. After his death Marie chose to remain in her home. Noreen took her food shopping weekly and she came to stay with them on weekends.

In the Spring of 1960 the large Howard Zinc plant in Passaic burned in a spectacular fire. The seat cover business was beginning to decline and the company decided to consolidate and move the headquarters to Fremont, Ohio. Walter was invited to move with them and spent some months in Fremont helping them get established. With everything that was important to him in New Jersey he resigned April 15, 1960 and found what turned out to be a much better job at Kearfott Company as an expediter. The pay was better, he was respected and treated well and Janet had graduated high school and was working there also as a clerk typist.

Walter's brother Joseph died of heart failure in 1960.

Although he didn't smoke and got a reasonable amount of exercise the dangers of the traditional American diet weren't well known at the time. Walt had been ignoring some health discomforts and avoiding the doctor when in November of 1961 he had a heart attack and was hospitalized at St. Joseph Hospital. Overnight he had a second attack and died November 20, 1961 at the too young age of 46. He was buried at the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Totowa, not far from his home.

Grave at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery

Walter's story ends here. He didn't get to see his daughters marry or to play with his four grandchildren. A decade later and his condition might have been diagnosed early and treated.