Hazel K. Huffman, 89

March 17, 2017

Hazel K. Huffman, 89, died on Friday, March 17, 2017, at Lancaster General Hospital. She was a lifelong resident of Lancaster and, for the last 20 years, of Brethren Village Retirement Community.

Born in Lancaster, Pa., on September 19, 1927, to the late Earl M. and Mary Jenkins Kreider, her ancestry was only half-known, as her father was of German descent, and her mother was orphaned as an infant, having been left in a basket on a doorstep and raised in the Amish community. An orphanage, presumably involved, subsequently burned down, destroying all records. A DNA test in her elderly years determined that Mrs. Huffman was half-Irish. Fortuitously, she died on St. Patrick’s Day.

A 1945 McCaskey High School graduate, she attended Elizabethtown College before marrying Clifford B. Huffman in a double wedding with her late sister, Lois Kreider Merkey, wife of J. Harold Merkey, in 1947 at the Church of the Brethren, then located on Charlotte Street in Lancaster city. The Huffmans and Merkeys together celebrated 61 years of marriage before Mr. Huffman’s death in 2008.

Mrs. Huffman is survived by two daughters, Abby Abildness, wife of Dr. James Abildness of Middletown, and Alisa Bair, wife of Robert Bair of Lancaster. A son, Andrew Huffman, husband of Ann Forbes Huffman of Wilmington, Del., along with a granddaughter, Kelly Bair, and a great-granddaughter, Aliyah Evenson, preceded her in death. In addition, she is survived by nine grandchildren – Lauren Bair, Kristi Abildness McElwee, Leslie Bair Vink, Marcy Abildness Evenson, Timothy Abildness, Sarah Huffman Schmidt, David Huffman, Derek Abildness, Meredith Huffman – and eight great-grandchildren: Tyler, Carter, Chandler, Maisley, Hudson, Hadley, Holden, and Josiah.

Mrs. Huffman was active in the Auxiliary to Elizabethtown College for 49 years, having served as president for three years. She was a member of the Lancaster Church of the Brethren, where she served as president of two women’s groups. In 1984, she and her husband received the Church of the Brethren’s denominational national award for outstanding ecumenical achievement.

She also served for two years as the first female president of the Lancaster County Council of Churches. She was a member of the governing boards of both the Pennsylvania Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches. She was also a member of Church Women United, and served as chair of several of its committees.

She volunteered with Meals on Wheels and was a longtime member of the Lancaster Musical Art Society, serving as president from 1971-73 and later as treasurer for a number of years. She was also a member of the Iris Club in Lancaster.

She and her husband partnered with another couple to form a dinner-dance club, which had a membership of 30 couples and endured for 50 years.

Mrs. Huffman was an avid supporter of the arts in Lancaster, and loved to travel. Her family treasures the remembrance of her beautiful improvisational piano playing, her exceptional hospitality, inquisitive listening skills, and fine artistic abilities.

A celebration of her life will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. in the Brethren Village Retirement Community Chapel, 3001 Lititz Pike, Lancaster, Pa. Guests may greet the family at 10:00 a.m. prior to the service. A private interment will be held in the Memorial Garden of the Lancaster Church of the Brethren.