Stewart Huff 1940 - 2024

HUFF

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 11/24/2024 at 11:11:53

Sioux City Journal
7 September 2024

Stewart Huff

Sioux City, Iowa

The venerable Stew Huff, native of Sioux City, Iowa, born during the July 4th Holiday, 1940 to Wallace and Marion Huff, died due to a severe stroke suffered the Friday of our Labor Day holiday, 2024. Stew grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, attended Central High School, and then graduated from Wentworth Military Academy.

Thereafter, Stew entered the University of Iowa, was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1963 and thereafter his law degree at Go Hawkeyes not Cyclones College of Law in 1965. Upon graduation from law school, Stew joined the United States Army where he was stationed initially at Fort Knox, Kentucky and thereafter at Fort Gordon, Georgia for a period of two years of active duty before returning home and becoming the commanding officer of the Headquarters Company, Third Battalion, Fourteenth Artillery USAR in Sioux City, Iowa.

Upon returning to Sioux City in 1967, Stew became a member of what is now the Crary Huff law firm where he continued in active practice until July 2012. He then became 'of counsel' with Crary Huff for several years before fully retiring after having active licenses in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa.

During his 50+ years of practice, Stew was actively engaged in leading many professional and community activities including:

Professional – He is a past member of the Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota State Bar Associations. Stew was also on the Board of Governors of the Iowa State Bar Association and past chair of the business law section of the Iowa State Bar Association. He also served on the Iowa Supreme Court Grievance Committee and the Iowa Supreme Court disciplinary board. He is a Past President of the Woodbury County Bar Association and served as a part-time attorney for the City of Sioux City for four years during his earliest years of practicing law.

Scholastic – Stew served as an adjunct professor at the University of South Dakota College of Law, teaching in the area of business transactions, business succession planning, and modern real estate law. The challenge of working with bright young professional minds was something he genuinely enjoyed.

Community Activities – Stew loved the Little Yellow Dog Foundation and was a consistent leader and donor to the Ancient and Effervescent Order of the Little Yellow Dogs, which provides assistance to local Siouxland families that need help each year. Stew served as a leader of the Siouxland Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Easter Seal Society of Siouxland, the Woodbury County Civil Service Commission, the Sioux City Transit Board, and he has served on numerous committees within his churches and various social organizations to which he belonged. He has also served as a member and Chairman of the Dakota Dunes Community Association and on the board of the Homeowners' Association for the Retreats at Stone Fountain at Arnold's Park, Iowa.

During his decades of legal practice, Stew worked in virtually every area of the practice of law but has particularly enjoyed over the past 25+ years of working with clients on business transactions and business succession planning. He has overseen hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of business transactions and has worked with a number of clients who are in their first, second, third, and even fourth generations of family ownership.

Stew and his wife Maureen "Mo" Huff reside in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. She is a retired registered nurse in the tri-state area who has two adult children, Stew's stepson Mike Blankenship, who is president of Blankenship Paint and Glass in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, and step daughter Kelly, who is a nurse anesthetist at the Surgery Center in Dakota Dunes.

Prior to marrying Mo, Stew was married to Jean Huff, now living in Yankton, South Dakota with whom he raised three sons, Peter, who owns a private equity firm called Blue Sage Capital in Austin, Texas and married to Kathleen, Steve who practices law in the tri-state area and married to Tracy, and Allen, who is a chiropractor practicing in partnership in North Platte, Nebraska and married to Monica. Stew enjoyed one last big trip with his sons in July and loved every minute of their time together. Stew also loved on his grandchildren, who were in his every thought. His grandchildren include Maxton Huff, Hudson Huff, and Addison Huff of Austin, Texas; Adrian and Noel Huff of Yankton, South Dakota; and Olivia Huff of North Platte, Nebraska. He was an important part in the lives of Mo's grandchildren, Mike and Jaime's two children Lainey and Jake and Kelly and Adam's children Bella, Ben and Breccan, of Dakota Dunes. Stew is survived by one brother, James, and his wife, Jeanette, of Dallas, Texas. Stew and Jim were soulmates as children and just as close as adults that loved to see each other often.

Together, Stew and Maureen were frequent travelers who enjoyed countless long and short "Sunday drives" to engage their many friends as well as traveling to enjoy the activities of their ten (10) grandchildren. Stew loved his family, serving his clients, and giving back to his community what he received during his decades of practice. A private family service will be taking place soon and a celebration of life for friends and family will be scheduled in the coming fall 2024 and will be subsequently publicized shortly by family. This event will take place on a fall Friday late afternoon in Sioux City per Stew's detailed wishes. Stew wanted everyone to celebrate his life with him and not feel sadness, so the upcoming event will be a party and not a traditional funeral. Countless friends and family and family will miss him each and every day. We love you, Stew!