A memorial service is scheduled for Willie "Joe" Huddleston at 11:00a.m. Saturday October 6, 2018 in the Chapel of Downs Funeral Home.

Willie "Joe" Huddleston was born June 11, 1921 in Texarkana, Arkansas, to Lee Miner and Mary Ellen (Owens) Huddleston. Joe was the youngest of ten children. He graduated from North Heights High School in 1939. In the spring of 1942, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard where he worked as a motor machinist. While stationed in New Jersey, he met and married his wife, Rita (Asprocolas) Huddleston on June 17, 1944. Rita and Joe were devout members of St. Joseph Catholic Church since 1959. Joe retired from his career working as an engineer at Thiokol Corporation in 1986. He had a passion for gardening and spent countless hours caring for his fruits and vegetables year after year.  He enjoyed sharing the bounty of his harvest with many friends and family. He loved to fish, read and watch sports, especially college basketball.

Joe is survived by his wife of 74 years, Rita, of Marshall, Texas; his daughter, Mary Ellen Frazier and her husband, Orman, of Marshall, Texas; his son, Bill and his wife, Patty, of Marshall, Texas; his two granddaughters, Leslie Simpson and her husband, Stuart, of Cedar Park, Texas, and Sarah Geter and her husband, Steven, of Highland Village, Texas; his great-grandchildren, Finley and Miles Simpson, and Lily and Emme Geter; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lee Miner and Mary Ellen, and his brothers and sisters, Ollie, Ware, Pauline, Flora, Mattie, Henry, Daniel, Ola Mae and Leslie.