Gordon Neal "Skip" Huff

Gordon “Skip” Neal Huff, 87, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on June 13, 2025 in Howell after a battle with Alzheimer's. He hung on long enough for his son to fly in from California.

He was born in Battle Creek on Oct. 13, 1937, to Roswald and Gladys (Micklatcher) Huff, the second of four children. After graduating from Battle Creek Central High School in 1955, he went to Western Michigan University, where he participated in an ROTC program and studied industrial engineering. He married Nancy (Elliott) Huff on June 13, 1959. The couple had three children: Mark, Cheryl and Cathy. He entered the Army as a 2nd lieutenant and was later stationed in Germany and Vietnam. The family lived in Alabama, Maryland, Germany and Iowa before eventually settling into their home in Brighton, where they lived for 30 years.

He earned degrees from Western Michigan University and the University of Iowa. While living in Iowa in the 1960s, he worked for Collins Radio Equipment Co., which provided voice communications equipment for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs. A brilliant handyman and electrician, he worked at Unisys for more than 25 years before retiring around 2001. After selling their Brighton house in 2005, Skip and Nancy spent several years living at their vacation home, affectionately named “Tiff House,” on Tiff Lake in Evart, before later moving into their current house in Fowlerville. The couple were snowbirds and loved spending the winter months in Indian Rocks in Largo, Florida, where they made many lifelong friends.

Skip enjoyed golfing, hunting, playing horseshoes and shuffleboard, going on his annual fishing trips in Canada with his buddies, doing the Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk (26 years in a row), taking the grandkids out on the pontoon on Tiff Lake, spending time with extended family in Skanee, and enjoying the amazing sweets and goodies Nancy baked for every family gathering. He was always tinkering with projects, house maintenance and yard work. Even when he could no longer do those projects with his hands, Skip continued to troubleshoot projects in his mind as Alzheimer's took its toll — but it never completely robbed him of who he was. He will be deeply missed by his loving family.

He is survived by a brother, Alexander Huff (Minda) of Battle Creek; his wife Nancy (Elliott) Huff of 66 years; son Mark Huff (Marie) of Orange, CA; daughter Cheryl Shekell (John) of Howell; daughter Cathy Burrison (Keith) of Howell; his five grandchildren, Erica Shekell of Lansing, Chas Shekell (Erin) of Rockford, Jacqueline Huff of Poway, CA, Adrienne Wardlaw (Tyler) of Mission Viejo, CA, and David Huff of Raleigh, NC; and his great-granddaughter, Colbie Shekell, of Rockford; and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents and sisters Myrna (Huff) Dupree and Dianne (Huff) Adkins.

The viewing will take place Monday, June 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home in Battle Creek, where funeral services will take place at 12:30 p.m. with military honors to follow at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, MI. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his memory to the Alzheimer's Association at alz.org or by calling (800) 272-3900 and pressing “2” to donate.