Bill Text: IL SR0985 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of John "Chief AJ" Huffer of Tuscola.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-04-09 - Resolution Adopted [SR0985 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-SR0985-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | ||||||
3 | to learn of the death of John "Chief AJ" Huffer of Tuscola, who | ||||||
4 | passed away on March 30, 2022; and
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5 | WHEREAS, John Huffer was born in Peoria on December 25, | ||||||
6 | 1937 in the Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers, the | ||||||
7 | child of a Cherokee father and a Menominee mother; six months | ||||||
8 | later, he was adopted by Charles and Dorothy Busey Huffer; he | ||||||
9 | graduated from Urbana High School in 1955 and attended the | ||||||
10 | University of Illinois for one semester before joining the | ||||||
11 | U.S. Marine Corps; he was stationed in California and, during | ||||||
12 | that time, he shot on the Barstow Base rifle team and became a | ||||||
13 | body builder; after he was honorably discharged, he returned | ||||||
14 | to the University of Illinois, where he was a member of the | ||||||
15 | ROTC rifle team and was recruited to be a model for art | ||||||
16 | students; he married Corinne Shreve on July 26, 1959; and
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17 | WHEREAS, John Huffer graduated from Bible college and was | ||||||
18 | inspired to start a boys home, which brought him back to | ||||||
19 | Tuscola; the boys home eventually changed to an assisted | ||||||
20 | living home; then, with partners, he opened the We Care | ||||||
21 | Nursing Home in Arcola as well as hotel restaurants in Arcola | ||||||
22 | and Mattoon; he eventually joined the carpenters union in | ||||||
23 | Champaign-Urbana; he later was a contractor and had dinner in |
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1 | the White House with Ronald Reagan as Minority Contractor of | ||||||
2 | the Year; and
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3 | WHEREAS, John Huffer was a scrawny kid; he wanted to start | ||||||
4 | weight training at an early age, but his parents made him learn | ||||||
5 | all the muscles before they allowed him to get a dumbbell set; | ||||||
6 | he eventually competed in Mr. America twice and numerous other | ||||||
7 | body building competitions; he represented Tuscola in the | ||||||
8 | Super Natural Physique Classic in 2001, where he won | ||||||
9 | first-place in the Master 55 and over; and
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10 | WHEREAS, John Huffer shot a world record of 14,060 wood | ||||||
11 | blocks without a miss over an eight-day period in March 1987; | ||||||
12 | he subsequently landed on the cover of gun magazines, which | ||||||
13 | launched his journey of fame in the gun world; he later | ||||||
14 | developed the Chief AJ Slingbow, which has been sold all over | ||||||
15 | the world; he appeared on a number of reality TV shows, | ||||||
16 | including Top Shot, Man vs Machine, Monster Hunters, and | ||||||
17 | History's Mysteries; and
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18 | WHEREAS, John Huffer had a great love for his family; he | ||||||
19 | took his wife, Corinne, all over the country to gun shows and | ||||||
20 | national parks; he spent time in Alaska for the birth of his | ||||||
21 | grandchildren and graduations, and then he would be off on | ||||||
22 | Alaskan hunting adventures; he was blessed to have his | ||||||
23 | granddaughter, Tara, and her family stay with him for the last |
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1 | month of his life and developed a beautiful bond with his | ||||||
2 | 7-month-old great-grandson, Noah; and
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3 | WHEREAS, John Huffer was committed to his faith and | ||||||
4 | enjoyed preaching; at 80 years old, through DNA testing, he | ||||||
5 | was blessed to be united with his biological brother, Theodore | ||||||
6 | Yednock; and
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7 | WHEREAS, John Huffer was preceded in death by his wife of | ||||||
8 | 62 years, Corinne; his father, Charles C. Huffer; his mother, | ||||||
9 | Dorothy Busey Huffer; his sister, Mary Huffer Hickman; and his | ||||||
10 | granddaughter, Stephanie Corinne Huffer; and
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11 | WHEREAS, John Huffer is survived by his son, Jason | ||||||
12 | (Janice) Huffer; his daughter, Rebekah (Vince) Baldauf; his | ||||||
13 | grandchildren, Benjamin Burton, Tara Huffer (Lawrence), | ||||||
14 | CoWanda Joy Huffer, Dottie (Cody), and John Baldauf; and his | ||||||
15 | great-grandsons, Bastian Skye Burton and Noah Lawrence | ||||||
16 | Moshofsky Huffer; therefore, be it
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17 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | ||||||
18 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
19 | John "Chief AJ" Huffer, U.S. Marine, bodybuilder, preacher, | ||||||
20 | exhibition shooter, and entrepreneur, and extend our sincere | ||||||
21 | condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved | ||||||
22 | him; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
2 | presented to the family of John Huffer as an expression of our | ||||||
3 | deepest sympathy.
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