“The Christian religion is not the practice of a set of rules, or even the following of some very laudable precepts—it is simply (and at the same time infinitely complexly) responding in and through Christ to God’s love for us.”
–DSH, February 28, 1982

Donald Sweat Huff, a lifelong resident of Saline County, Missouri, passed away peacefully on Monday, April 14, 2025, after a long, full life marked by love, humor, service, and deep devotion to his family and community. He was born June 27, 1936 at Fitzgibbon Hospital and attended Southeast Elementary School in Marshall. One of his proudest achievements was becoming a member of the “AAA of Missouri Southeast School Safety Patrol” in 1948. (The attractively framed certificate was proudly displayed on the wall in his law office.) He graduated from Marshall High School and went on to earn both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Houston. He began his career in public service as a JAG officer in the U.S. Air Force and continued serving in the Air Force Reserve after returning to Marshall to begin his law practice.

Not long after opening his office (which became Huff & Huff Attorneys when his younger brother, George, joined him), Don made Saline County history as the first Republican ever elected Municipal Judge, and likely the first Republican ever elected to any public office in the county (though he thought there might have been one other guy before the Civil War). He ran uncontested for multiple terms, stepping down in 1982 to raise his two young daughters after the loss of his beloved wife, Rita Jane Bennett Huff. His love and devotion to his girls shaped all of their lives. He introduced them to the wider world through travel, taking them to Italy, Monaco, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Cozumel, and the Bahamas—once even joking with locals in Tunisia, who tried to buy his daughter Lizzie for 50 camels, “So, what’s the going rate for a camel these days?”

Don was known not only for his sharp mind and strong sense of ethics, but also for his deeply dry wit and curiosity. He enjoyed biographies and mystery novels and was a lover of music—especially opera and classical. He had a wonderful voice and always sang loudly and proudly at church, occasionally to the embarrassment of his children. He seemed to know the answer to every question, and even if he didn’t, he could quickly make up something that sounded good and state it with conviction.

He gave generously of his time and expertise. For over 50 years, Don quietly donated legal services to dozens of local organizations. He was a dedicated member of the Marshall Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce and served on the boards of Missouri Valley College, the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, and Friends of Arrow Rock. He was also a longtime member of the St. Peter Parish Council and taught confirmation classes for the church. A lover of southwestern style and antiques, he designed his own barn-style home in Arrow Rock and was a founding member of the town’s Architectural Review Board.

Don and Rita shared a quirky, creative, and deeply affectionate partnership. They met on a blind date arranged by members of Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall and were engaged (“Let’s formalize this relationship,” Don said to Rita) a few months later while picnicking by the Lyceum Theatre gazebo. Their marriage was full of contrasts and complementarity—Don liked towels hung with the tags hidden; Rita dug holes and lit pottery on fire in their backyard. They were soulmates, and Don never stopped missing her.

In the 1970s, the couple were part of the “Arrow Rock Equestrian Club”—a group that never actually rode but did enjoy gathering for cocktails and talking about horses. One of Don’s most treasured memories from childhood was riding in the grain wagon beside his grandfather as he drove a team of Percheron draft horses on the family farm in north Missouri. As a teenager, he saved up for a horse by working at the Marshall municipal swimming pool. A cherished family photograph captures him with cowboy hat in one hand, reins in the other, standing up on the saddle of that galloping horse.

From his teenage years on, Don also felt a strong pull toward the spiritual life. He spent a year at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist monastery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before ultimately choosing the path of law practice and family life. The family remained members of Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall until shortly before Rita’s death when she (out on a day pass from Fitzgibbon Hospital) along with Don and the girls got baptized into the Catholic faith at St. Peter Church in Marshall. Catholicism both defined and sustained Don and he strove to be a better Catholic every day of his life.

He lived his last five years without sight or hearing, yet his attitude remained upbeat and grateful. His resilience, faith, and sense of humor never dimmed.

Don was the best kind of father, a truly ethical lawyer, and a tireless servant to his community and faith. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy lives on in all who knew and loved him. He is survived by his daughters Alex (with husband Paul, and children Thomas and Julian, of Boston) and Liz (and son, Ellis, of Arrow Rock), his brother George, sister-in-law Jane, and their children Ethan (wife Julie and daughter Penny) and Kate (husband Reed and children Paige and Grant), as well as a cherished contingency of New Mexico cousins.

Shortly before his death, he asked Lizzie, “Where is your mother?” Lizzie spelled into his hand, “Dad, mom’s been in heaven for 43 years.” He smiled. “She’s waiting for me there, isn’t she?” After a pause, he added, “Well… she’s really waiting for all of us. But I’m going to be there first.”

Two of Don’s favorite quotes:

What it means to do God’s will

All Christ did, all he taught, was the will of God. Humility in our daily lives, an unwavering faith, a moral sense of modesty in conversation, justice in acts, mercy in deed, discipline, refusal to harm others, a readiness to suffer harm, peaceableness with our brothers…clinging tenaciously to God’s love…manifesting in our speech the constancy of our profession and under torture confidence for the fight, and in dying the endurance for which we will be crowned—this is what it means to wish to be a co-heir with Christ, to keep God’s command; this is what it means to do the will of the Father.
–St. Cyprian

The way to peace

There is only one way to peace: be reconciled that of yourself you are what are, and it might not be especially magnificent, what you are! God has His own plan for making something else of you, and it is a plan which you are mostly too dumb to understand.
–Thomas Merton, Entering the Silence

Other significant things Don wrote down on little slips of paper:

“Favorite songs: 

• It Makes no Difference Now
• There’s a New Moon over my Shoulder
• You are My Sunshine”

“Dates I saw Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey under the tent: 

• Aug 26, 1940 – St. Joseph, Mo
• Sept 13, 1952 – Kansas City, Mo
• October 14, 1955 – Houston, Tx
• Tent ended July 16, 1956”

“Dress right,
You can’t afford not to.
Dress right,
If you wanna belong.
Dress right,
No matter what you’re doin.’
Dress right, men,
You’ll never go wrong.”
(Radio jingle for Rose and Buckner clothing store in Marshall, Missouri of which Don’s father was a long-time employee and eventually part-owner.)

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 25, 2025, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Marshall with Fr. Francis Doyle officiating. Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 25, 2025, at the church. Private family inurnment will take place in Ridge Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to St. Peter Catholic Church or Community Cancer Center in care of Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home. An online guestbook is available at www.campbell-lewis.com