HANS HUBER

HUBER--Hans. Hans Anthony "Toni" Huber, of Rumson, NJ, let go of this particular world on December 27, 2019 after fully inhabiting it for 86 years, two months, and six days. He had stuff to do that he couldn't do here, so he had to go. First on his list was building a wooden boat. This was no ordinary man. Toni had an easy, original, and irresistible charm. His rumbly, baritone voice could carry across a football field. He was extremely funny and didn't know how to tell a dull story. He swore constantly and effortlessly, outdoing any drunken sailor on the planet. It was hard not to love him. Toni was born in Manhattan and attended preschool in the city at The Little Red School House. He did receive further education (Rumson Country Day School, Millbrook, Amherst College) but he would be the first to tell you that his academic performance pretty much went downhill after The Little Red School House. But that didn't mean he wasn't brilliant. "Toni Hans Anthony Huber is my name and bold adventure is my game," he would announce on almost a daily basis. He was a pilot, a boatsman, and a woodworker. He was an ace skier - because of his skiing prowess he was recruited to serve in the U.S. Army's famed 10th Mountain Division. He was an excellent marksman and once, in Maine, he shot a bat out of the rafters at first try from 50 feet. With a BB gun. He knew flora and fauna and world geography and physics and could do the end-of-the week New York Times crossword puzzles. He could do a perfect moose call, and a moose would actually come out of the forest. He read voraciously on any subject, but was partial to WWII books, thrillers, and the dictionary. He seemed to know about everything and if he didn't, he'd convince you that he did. "Parfait du shay." "Habo gazabeo." "Check blamp." Don't know what these phrases mean? Neither does anyone else. Not even Toni's family. These are just a few of hundreds of "Toni-isms" that he would sprinkle into his conversation, thereby driving his wife insane. Somehow, he managed to be both a terrible curmudgeon and a very jolly man. As far as he was concerned, the glass was always three-quarters full. He never complained. His powerful personality ruled the world around him. It was (almost always) a joy to be in his orbit. Toni is survived by his four daughters, Lisa Huber (Bill Buchsbaum), Shelley Huber, Catherine Niederer (Bob), and Andrea Huber; his grandchildren Anna and Ellie Goodspeed, Merrill Henderson (Wade), Bobby and Tad Gaffey, and Josie Schneider; his stepchildren Susan Boynton and Burr Boynton (Sally), and Jake Reichert (Kelley); his step-grandchildren Eric Clifford (Kathy), Samantha Somero (Troy), and Kayla, JD, and Brooke Reichert; one great-grandchild, Lorelei Henderson; and one step- great-grandchild, Peter Somero. Toni is also survived by his wife, Laurel, who will miss him every second of every day for the rest of her life.