[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 175 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7589-S7590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO THE REVEREND GENE HUFF

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, today I pay tribute to a good friend 
of mine, and a man who has been a good friend of the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky for decades. Whether as a State legislator, a pastor, an 
evangelist, a radio station operator, or as a dedicated and loving 
family man, the Rev. Gene Huff of London, KY, has been a good and 
faithful servant in his community for many years. He has my respect as 
a model Kentuckian.
  Gene Huff was born October 6, 1929. Before he was 20 years old, he 
had heard the call to preach and began traveling Kentucky as an 
evangelist. His wife of nearly 60 years, Ethel, recalls the first time 
she laid eyes on Gene when he came to preach at her church.
  ``On March 13, 1949, he came to Newport, Kentucky, to preach his 
first revival at age 19,'' Ethel remembers.

       It was my home church. I had never seen or heard a teenager 
     preach before, so when I first saw Gene, I wondered what he 
     would be able to tell us. He was so young-looking to be a 
     preacher. But I loved his broad, friendly smile and wonderful 
     voice from the very start. And to my surprise, he really 
     could preach!

  At that first meeting Ethel was a 16-year-old church pianist. She 
must have been smitten with the handsome 19-year-old preacher. They 
dated for 3 years and were married on July 4, 1952. That same year Gene 
found a permanent home as a preacher when he became the first pastorate 
at the First Pentecostal Church in London, KY, the church that would 
eventually become his home for three decades. From 1955 to 1963, he 
followed some other pursuits, including serving as pastor at the Upper 
Colony Holiness Church and Carmichael Community Church in London, and 
at the Deer Park Christian Assembly of God Church in Cincinnati.
  He also worked for a time as a public school teacher and a tutor. But 
in 1963, Gene returned to pastor at the First Pentecostal and remained 
in that capacity until 1989.
  Many Kentuckians have also come to know Gene through his life-long 
experience in politics. He was first elected to the Kentucky House of 
Representatives in 1967. In 1971, he won a seat in the Kentucky Senate 
representing the 21st district and served there until 1994.
  I worked with Gene in his legislative capacity over the years and can 
truly say the people of the 21st district could not have asked for a 
more dedicated, loyal, or hardworking senator. Gene was always true and 
faithful to his convictions in the State senate. He was the leader of 
efforts to oppose a lottery coming to Kentucky. Although he was 
ultimately unsuccessful, I know he was proud of waging that fight. He 
would eventually rise to serve as both the minority caucus chairman and 
minority floor leader and as the ranking Republican on the 
Appropriations and Revenue Committee for 14 years. In 2000, he was 
inducted into the 5th District Lincoln Club Hall of Fame.
  Gene continued to serve as a pastor while serving his constituents in 
Frankfort. In 1974, inspired by his son, Marty, who had seen a 
presentation on a bus ministry, Gene found four schoolbuses for his 
church to buy and fix up, and he began running these buses across the 
region to bring people in to hear him preach at First Pentecostal. They 
named the four buses Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Before the bus 
service began, Gene's Sunday school had an average attendance of around 
150. Within three months over 400 people were attending Gene's 
services.
  Gene traveled even farther than the back roads of Kentucky when it 
came to spreading the word. In the 1980s, while serving as a State 
senator, Gene successfully got a resolution passed to assist persecuted 
Christians in Romania. Shortly afterwards, Gene traveled to Romania to 
see the situation there himself firsthand. What he saw so moved him 
that he began an entirely new phase of foreign missions in ministry. 
Gene would go on to make 28 trips to Romania, and he and Ethel traveled 
to 33 countries. In 1990 they formed the Good News Outreach missions 
organization to support their work in foreign missions. Here's how 
Ethel puts the effect these trips have had on her and Gene: 
``Involvement and support of foreign missions has been a beautiful 
addition to the tapestry of our lives.''
  As if all this service to both congregants and constituents were not 
enough, Gene succeeded in many other pursuits as well. He has installed 
air conditioners and furnaces, repaired washing machines, rebuilt cars, 
worked in home construction, worked at a car dealership and an ice 
cream shop, and hauled hay, coal, lumber, and watermelons. He once 
worked as a travel agent for KLM Airlines. In the 1970s he became part 
owner of an airplane and earned his pilot's license. On the day he 
resigned from the State senate in 1994, Gene and Ethel raised a 50,000-
watt tower for WYGE, a Christian radio station which he continued to 
operate until 2007. I remember doing two interviews with Gene on WYGE.
  Gene played a key role in seeing the brand-new, state-of-the-art St. 
Joseph-London Hospital completed, an acute-care hospital that serves a 
population of over 50,000 in four counties. When construction for the 
new facility came

[[Page S7590]]

to a crossroads a few year ago, it was Gene who brought the community 
together on a Thanksgiving weekend to lobby for the hospital's 
completion. I am sure he is proud to see the new hospital and its 
award-winning cardiovascular services up and running.
  Gene Huff is not only a well-rounded man but a well-educated one as 
well. He enrolled in Sue Bennett Junior College in London in the fall 
of 1952, beginning a pursuit of higher education that would continue 
over a period of 25 years. He finished Sue Bennett in 1954 and earned a 
bachelor's degree from Union College in Barbourville, KY, in 1960. His 
master's degree was earned at Morehead State University in Morehead, 
KY, in 1976. He also earned an educational specialist degree there in 
1977. He pursued further graduate work at the University of Kentucky. 
In 1999 Gene was awarded an honorary doctor of public education degree 
from Union College.
  Gene turned 82 years old a month ago, and I certainly hope he took 
the happy occasion of his birthday to look back proudly at a life 
filled with achievement. The number of lives he has touched, whether 
through his preaching, his public service or his warm and steady 
presence among family and friends cannot be counted.
  I had the pleasure of talking to Gene on the phone a few days ago and 
we got to reminisce about old times. I wanted him to know I was 
thinking of him and that I am proud of him for his decades of service 
to his community, to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and to God.
  It is an honor to come to Washington to represent Kentuckians such as 
the Rev. Gene Huff. I am sure no one could be prouder of Gene than his 
wife, Ethel; their five children, Arlene, Martin, Marsha, Anna Marie, 
and Jeanie; their 19 grandchildren, their 7 great-grandchildren, and 
many other beloved family members and friends.
  I would ask my Senate colleagues to join me in recognizing Rev. Gene 
Huff for his lifetime of accomplishment. Kentucky is honored to call 
him one of our own, and I am honored to call him my friend.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________