Obituary of Eldridge Huntoon

Eldridge “Pete” Huntoon Bloomingburg, NY Pete Huntoon agreed with D.L. Moody who said, “I want to live my life as long as I am useful, but when my work is done, I want to be up and off.” Pete entered peacefully into heaven on Tuesday July 13, 2010 at ORMC Horton Campus in Middletown, leaving behind his wife Ruth of 62 years at home, son, David of Ridgewood Queens, daughter, Nancy Norris and her husband Bob of Plano, TX, grandsons; Senior Airman Jonathan Norris and his wife Lea of Willingboro, NJ and Christopher Norris of Plano, TX, as well as his nephews, niece and great niece. The son of the late Eldridge and Phoebe (Murphy) Huntoon, Pete was born on October 3, 1924 in Manhattan. At the age of 7 he moved to the Bullville, NY area. He attended many schools in the area, mainly Middletown, and graduated from Montgomery High School. After graduation he entered into the U.S. Army and spent most of his time servicing aircrafts for the fighter squadrons of the European theater. When the war was over he married Ruth Himmelreich of Ridgewood, Queens, whom he met at the Sul-Ora Lodge skating rink in Bloomingburg years earlier. Pete worked for his father selling automobiles at Huntoon and Raffo in Manhattan. He had his own used car business, Huntoon Motors and loved his cars! When the auto business was in decline during the late 60’s he became a chauffeur on a part time basis. In 1973 he became a full time chauffeur for Mobil Oil, responsible for the CEO Mr. Rawleigh Warner. He retired in 1988, having two homes, one in Ridgewood, NY and the other in Bloomingburg. He was a long time attendee of the Circleville Evangelical Presbyterian Church and a member of St. John’s Evangelical United Methodist Church in Ridgewood, NY. No matter where he lived, he always called Bullville his home. Pete was the owner of the Five Corner Super Deli and other properties in the area. He was a goodwill ambassador. One would never know when Pete would stop by to visit or to help out. A memorial service to celebrate Pete’s 85 years of life will be held on Saturday August 7, 2010 at 11am at Circleville EPC, Circleville, NY (corner of Goshen Tpke and Rt. 302.) Burial will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Samaritan’s Purse P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607 www.samaritanspurse.org or to The Mission Committee of Circleville EPC, P.O. Box 141, Circleville, NY 10919. Arrangements entrusted to the William M. Gagan Funeral Home Inc. 845-744-6008 or www.wmgaganfuneralhome.com.