Wm. Floyd Huff

Wm. Floyd Huff, age 97, died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, July 22, 2003. Floyd was born on February 14, 1906 to Charles B. Huff and Lydia "Kate" Cottle Huff. He was born and raised in the McDade, Paige area near Cottletown. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by five brothers and two sisters and their spouses: Garland and Jesse Dunkin, Charles Byron and Erna (Boling) Huff, Thomas Levi and Grace (Dunbar) Huff, Zebulin Franklin Huff, Viola (Huff) and Spencer Boling, George Henry and Frankie (Lewis) Huff, John Milton and Fannie (Ward) Huff. He leaves behind his loving sweetheart of 75 years, Dovie Prather Huff; nephews, Michael Prather, Roy Lee Boling, Roger Boling, and Clarence Huff; nieces, Loyce Randal, Gertrude Barton, and Inez Laake; sisters-in-law, Sadie Fannon and Mada Prather; and many great-nieces and great-nephews. As a child living in the Paige area he attended the Ridgeway Church. He worked on the farm until 1924 at which time he came to Austin to work as a Laboratory Assistant for the Pasteur Institute, now known as the Texas State Health Department. The Institute was located in the basement of the Austin State Hospital. There he met the love of his life, Dovie Prather who was working as an aide at the hospital. They were married on January 12, 1928 and lived on the hospital grounds until the Institute became a part of the State Hospital. He retired from the Health Department in 1964 after 40 years of service. Floyd was quoted in an article in the Austin American Statesman "I had quite a career with the Health Department from 1924-1964. My job for forty years was performing autopsies on animal heads to see if they had rabies. I did up to twenty-five a day and only one or two of them would have rabies." He inspected 119, 600 brains that ranged from humans to mice. After a retirement of one month, he went to work as a bailiff at the Travis County Courthouse where he worked for another thirty-one years, retiring in 1995. He was the bailiff for 610 jury cases with 30 different judges, the last 15 years with Judge Mary Pearl Williams. Uncle Floyd, know by his friends as the "Garage Sale King of Austin" was dynamic, energetic, loving and devoted to his family. We will miss him so. Funeral services will be at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 26, 2003, at Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Fitzhugh Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Hill Country Senior Citizens, P.O. Box 160, Dripping Springs, TX 78620. Arrangements by Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 S. Congress, Austin 442-1446. You may view memorials at www.wcfish.com.