James Lynn Huddleston

Obituary
James Lynn Huddleston, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend and singer extraordinaire, was called to sing in the heavenly choir on March 1, 2025, after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jim was born on December 2, 1940, in Akron, Ohio, to Jesse Lynn and Eunice Harris Huddleston.
He graduated from Manchester High School in 1959 and attended St. Paul Bible College, St. Paul, Minnesota, before entering the U.S. Air Force in 1962. Jim served as a swimmer at Lackland AF Base, San Antonio, and then as an MP in Minot, ND, at the Strategic Missile Command, and finally in Guam.
After Jim's separation from the service, he began his 30-year career in sales and management with Monarch Marking Systems.During this time, he married and his two children, Jennifer Lynn King (Huntsville, TX) and Johnathon Lynn Huddleston (Muscatine, IA) were born. Jim's career required travel over a large portion of the United States to cover his sales territory which engendered a love of travel that lasted throughout his life. His career also necessitated several moves for his family, which included Crystal Lake, IL, Saint Charles, MO, and Wharton, TX.
After his retirement, he looked for other ways to keep busy, including buying a Sears store in Portland, TX, where he moved in 2001. Jim met Nancy Kennedy Martin in choir at First Methodist Church in Portland and they were married on March 23, 2002. The Sears store was subsequently sold, but Jim kept growing and always busy. He studied for and passed the insurance state license exam on his first try and sold Aflac, worked as a professional recruiter and served on the Portland City Council. After Jim and Nancy's move to Kerrville in 2010, Jim immediately went to work for the local Sears store, where he worked until his 80th birthday.
Following his final ''retirement,'' Jim kept busy taking care of the house and yard, being chief cook, bottle washer and shopper for Nancy and her mother, Dixie Kennedy, singing in multiple groups with First United Methodist Church-Kerrville and the Hill Country Chorale, taking and framing pictures (he especially liked taking pictures of flowers) and traveling with Nancy.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Linda Lou Lent. He is survived by his wife, children, and the stepsons he claimed as his own, Bryan Martin (Ingleside, TX), Roy Martin (Kerrville, TX) and Andrew Martin (Bandera, TX), 15 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
A service to celebrate Jim's life will be held at First United Methodist Church-Kerrville on March 14, 2025 at 2:00 p.m., with a reception following. In lieu of flowers, Jim requested that donations be made to the Music Ministry of First United Methodist Church-Kerrville.