Gene Huddleston

Gene Huddleston, age 77, of Ramona, died Friday, February 21, 2020 at Good Samaritan Society in Howard.

A memorial gathering will be held at a later date.

Eugene Clair Huddleston was born September 25, 1942 in Kadoka, SD to Homer & Esther (Schamber) Huddleston. Gene joined the US Navy and served from 1960-62, before returning home to run the farm after his father became ill. On March 14, 1969, he married Karen Mathison at the Methodist Church in Kennebec, SD. For the next seven years, they lived in South Dakota and then moved to Gillette, WY area in 1976. While he lived there, he worked as a pipe fitter/plumber and in maintenance. In 1995, he moved to Ramona and bought the “R” store where he did all of the mechanical work, until the store was sold in 2002.

When he wasn’t working, Gene would be doing anything related to his massive garden that he would grow every year. He paid particular attention to every detail-from planting the seeds in February until they were ready to be moved to the garden to “precisely” spacing the plants apart. The time that he devoted to his garden would show at every harvest. Because of the size of his garden, his family couldn’t eat all that it produced, so he would just give it away to neighbors and friends. When he wasn’t gardening, Gene would go fishing, but he loved to go fishing for paddlefish. His family will remember him a loving husband, father and grandfather.

Gene is survived by his wife, Karen of Ramona; three daughters-Gail Huddleston & Stacy Huddleston both of Ramona and Heidi (Jeremy) Parrish of Gainesville, FL; three grandchildren-Alex & Kermit Huddleston and Emma Parrish and one sister, Joyce Nelson of Hawaii.

He was preceded in death by his parents and four sisters.