Notes:
Curtis Elton Huff, age 94, died Dec. 7, 2006 in Broomfield, Colorado. He was born May 30, 1911, the second of five children of Terrell Chalmers Huff and Ella Mae Stevens Huff. He grew up in Leesburg, OH, where one of his schoolmates was Miriam Angeline Mumma. They fell in love and were married July 21, 1934 in Yellow Spring, OH. In high school, Elton was an outstanding athlete (basketball and wrestling) and a violinist. In 1929, he enrolled in Antioch College, where he covered his costs through the Depression era with a watch repair business. Under the Antioch cooperative study plan, he also was a control chemist for the Oxford Paper Mill and was a psychophysiologist at the Samuel S. Fels Research Foundation and an assistant in photosynthesis research at the Charles S. Kettering Foundation. Elton and Miriam moved to Mishawaka, Ind. in 1939 when he was hired by Ball Band, a former division of the U.S. Rubber Company. Elton's chemical research produced several patents. He specialized in inventing compounds from which unique products could be crafted. They included a foam cushion in the helmet used by Chuck Yeager when he became the first pilot to break the sound barrier and Ensolite, a closed-cell foam product which cushions Astroturf in football fields and wrestling mats and automobile padding and marine flotation devices. Elton was a member of the American Chemical Society for nearly 70 years, serving at one time as chairman of the St. Joseph Valley section of that organization. Although he was by birthright a Quaker, Elton and Miriam looked for a new religious home in Mishawaka and joined the First Presbyterian Church. Over the years he served as elder, superintendent of Sunday school, co-chair of the remodeling committee in 1977 and consultant on many projects. He was a member of the Mishawaka Campfire Girls Association and the Civic Planning Association. Survivors include his daughter, Lou Ann Dixon; son, Dr. Curtis Elton Huff Jr. and his wife, Dr. Jane Netting-Huff; grandchildren, Heather McClary, Lucinda Huff, Montgomery Dixon, Anthony Huff and Dr. Cinnamon Dixon; and a great-grandchild, Savannah Dixon. A graveside service was held at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Leesburg, OH. Pastor John Fitzgerald of the Leesburg Friends Church officiated. The Turner Funeral Home in Leesburg served the family.