Lorella Huff

LORELLA MARIE (nee McCORMACK) HUFF, age 78, of Kaneville, passed away unexpectedly, following a car accident, February 5, 2013. Lorella was born at home in Zion in 1934 to Merton L. and Leona (Baker) McCormack. She and her two sisters and baby brother were raised by Leona in the Baker grandparents\’ home on Elisha. Lorella met the love of her life, Richard F. Huff, during their high school years. They attended different high schools, but during their courtship Richard began attending Lorella’s church, Grace Missionary Fellowship, pastored by Rev. Lee Skinner. Richard not only began his life\’s faith journey at Grace, but he also enjoyed playing on their softball team where he was cheered on by Lorella and also Richard’s cousin Danny who eventually married Lorella’s sister Lavonne, who cheered alongside her big sister. Lorella graduated from Zion Benton Township High School in 1952.Richard and Lorella were married in 1954 and settled in Waukegan on Brookside Avenue to raise their family of three girls. While Richard worked as a computer operations supervisor at the Great Lakes Naval Station as a civilian, Lorella worked at Johnson Motors as a secretary to the executive suite. She had excellent office skills including shorthand which she used daily for the rest of her life. Her detailed shorthand notes about anything and everything always were written using her excellent penmanship that was nearly calligraphic in perfection, as if it were typeset. In 1974 Lorella and Richard relocated to the Harrisburg Pennsylvania area for Richard\’s job; the Mechanicsburg Navy Depot would benefit from his computer expertise. The Huff\’s once again settled down, attended the Hershey Evangelical Free Church where their faiths continued to grow thanks to Rev. David Martin (senior pastor) and Rev. Bob Sproul. Lorella used her knack for office administration working for Jack Snavely Insurance in Lemoyne. Everywhere she went, she spread her care and love for others with her generous and incredible baking, sewing, knitting, quilting, and scrapbooking. She became one of the top volunteers at Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill; she knit baby caps for the newborns, racking up well over 10,000 hours of service. Lorella had so many talents that she gave so unselfishly bringing joy to others. It was no wonder that no one could ever "out-give" Lorella. Lorella’s faith was her bedrock and nothing could shake that foundation. Even when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1980, she would find a way to win that difficult battle and spend 25 years in remission. Just when Lorella was hitting her stride during remission her world was turned upside down in 1988 when her beloved Richard died of cancer after 34 years of marriage. To the end of her own life, she would never recover fully from this loss, feeling his absence daily. In 2005 her cancer returned and once again she began her fight in earnest. Always the quintessential patient advocate for herself, she armed herself with ongoing and persistent research. She spoke with her doctors using their medical jargon, pushing them to stay current on their own research, taking copious notes in that shorthand learned long ago. She carried all medical records with her, often providing the physicians with copies of reports they hadn\’t even seen. In 2007 she left her dear community of friends in Central Pennsylvania to live closer to her youngest daughter, settling into small town life in cozy Kaneville Illinois where she continued to shower her generosity and kindness on the people around her. She was a regular at the