James Walter Houf

Jim was born August 8, 1948 in Athens, OH to the late W. Emerson and Rosemary McHale Houf. He was married to Kimberley Jones Houf of Leon, IA on December 27, 1984.

He is survived by his wife Kim, his three boys, Donnie (Shiree) Houf of Columbus, Jacob Houf of Grand Rapids, MI, Thomas Houf of Westerville; granddaughter, Arabell Rose Houf; brothers Tom (Carol) Houf of Boiling Springs, PA, Bob (Kathy) Houf of Gilbert, AZ; sister, Patricia (Rob) Wheelhouse of Rochester, NY, and many nieces and nephews.

Jim was a 1966 graduate of Chillicothe High School, and after attending Ohio University for one term, left OU to join the US Navy Seabees, where he proudly served multiple tours in Vietnam from 1968 until 1971. After returning from the Navy, Jim studied welding engineering at The Ohio State University as a member of the Theta Tau engineering fraternity. He started a career in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in 1972, where he worked as a welding inspector for 26 years before becoming a Certification Specialist with the American Society for Non-Destructive Testing (ASNT) in 1998.

Jim was promoted to Senior Manager of Technical Services at ASNT in 1999, earning the certification of NDT Level III, and going on to publish multiple articles and procedures in the field of NDT. He was a highly respected member of the NDT community, having earned high qualifications from TÜV CERT, ASQ, AWS, SCWI, and the ACCP. He was also a proud member of the NRA, VFW, and American Legion.

A celebration of life will be held 11:00am Friday, April 7, 2017 at Schoedinger Funeral Home (6699 North High Street, Worthington, OH 43085) where friends may call from 10:00am until time of service.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the family to assist with final expenses, or to the Wounded Warrior Project in Jim’s honor.