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HUDDLESTON, LUSTER “HUD”

Transcribed by Bessie Meredith

BORN: NOVEMBER 24, 1913 DIED: DECEMBER 17, 2003

Irvine resident Luster “Hud” Huddleston died Dec. 17 of natural causes after reaching his goal of passing his 90th birthday in November.

He was born Nov. 24, 1913, in Fort Towson, Okla., the first of four children. He was named Luster for the hero in a book his mother was reading while she was expecting him. For an unknown reason the family called him Paul for several years until he settled on Hud, the name he was know by most of his life.

When he was a young child, the family moved to Amarillo, Texas, where he grew up. After graduating from high school he worked in a grocery store and eventually became the manger.

A mutual friend introduced him to Johnnie Louise Gilkerson and in 1942 they married. A short time later Mr. Huddleston joined the Navy Sea Bees in the construction battalion. He served in the South Pacific on Guadalcanal and New Caledonia and told stories of his overseas adventures throughout his life.

The Huddlestons settled in Long Beach after the war, where they raised two children, John and Sarabecca. He worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and for the Edison Co. as well as owning his variety store and real estate brokering businesses. It wasn’t until later in his life that he found the job that brought him the most personal satisfaction. He felt pride and a sense of beauty painting the interiors of homes.

The Huddlestons were members of the Long Beach First Baptist Church and the Cal Heights Methodist Church.

They took up square dancing and bought a van for camping. They loved combining the two in long weekend getaways with square dancing friends.

Mr. Huddleston loved doing things for others.

“If you visited him you couldn’t leave without lemons, homemade candy or perhaps a painting. And if you admired something, chances are he’d try to give it to you,” said a family member at his memorial service.

The Huddlestons moved to University Park in Irvine to be near their daughter and his family and delighted in caring for their grandchildren. They joined Irvine Presbyterian Church and volunteered at Vista Verde School near their home.

Mr. Huddleston always found something to keep himself busy. He loved to read and taught himself calligraphy, which he did for many years. In later life he became interested in watercolor painting and his paintings hang in the homes of many friends.

He slowed down after his wife’s death in 2000, but still used his electric cart to visit the library and make trips to the local shopping center to visit or to pick up ingredients for his homemade candy. Apparently not content with the speed of his electric cart, he also purchased a new Volkswagen Beetle. “It was of course, a turbo,” said a family member.

Services were held Dec. 21 at Irvine Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Huddleston is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, John and Sheila Huddleston, of Alaska; his daughter and son-in-law, Sara and Mike Hart, of Irvine; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.