Virgil Woodrow Huntley, 101, “The Memory of Mystic,” died on January 23, 2018, at the Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, CT. A longtime resident of Mystic, CT, and keeper of Mystic stories, he resided for many years on Pearl Street, and in the last few years, at Windham Falls Estates, in Groton, CT.
Virgil was born in Old Lyme, August 25, 1916, a son of Frederick Beecher and Lucy (Swaney) Huntley. He had lived in Mystic since 1923, attended local schools, and Colorado A & M College (now Colorado State). As a young man, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps. He enlisted in the Army following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and served throughout the Pacific until 1945. He was awarded several medals for his service in the Philippines, New Zealand, French New Caledonia, New Guinea and Guadalcanal. Virgil was a founding member of the Hugo A. Simonelli Post VFW 3263, chartered in 1946. He served as post Quartermaster for the first nineteen years and was honored in 2016, with the award of his 70-year Membership Patch. About Pearl Harbor Day, he quipped: “I was watching the movie “Sargeant York” in WWI, in Jacksonville, FL, and when I came out, I was in WWII.”
Huntley cherished taking part in the annual Mystic Memorial Day parade. He recalled seeing eight surviving Civil War veterans lined up as he marched in his first parade in 1921 at age 5, with the Mystic Academy students. He said “they gave us flags and we started from the GAR hall on Pearl Street in Mystic. There was only one band, school children and some Civil War veterans. We marched across the river and they threw a wreath of lilacs in to the river to honor the naval officers. The band serenaded Civil War veteran Amos Hancock on the way back from the cemetery. He would sit in his rocker on his porch with an overcoat on. Then they took us back to the GAR hall for soda, ice cream, cake, pie, and we thought that was wonderful." He was honored at the 2016 parade, riding in the lead car as an “Honored Citizen,” with a banner announcing he was a WWII veteran celebrating his 100th birthday. People cheered and jumped up to salute along the parade route.
Virgil was long active with the Mystic River Historical Society and had a life-long interest in genealogical studies and family history. He was a part of the Huntley Family Association and served as membership secretary and treasurer for many years, where he will be celebrated at their summer reunion: www.huntleynationalassn.org. He compiled and published Huntley genealogies, encouraged others in their personal family history searches, and welcomed many as cousins in his much-loved extended family, the heart of his bachelor life. In 1996, he embraced the use of a computer for research and email with people worldwide, still using his trusty old typewriter for a time. He started a FamilyTreeDNA group in the early days of this test to learn of personal origins, advising people to be ready for the results, and to remain interested in family lines and ties revealed.
He was ever interested in the history of Mystic and recorded many of the notable events he witnessed. He was a participant in an “Old Timers’ Panel,” a community retrospective event. His photographic chronicle of floods, hurricanes, fires, historic homes, and other Mystic memories, including of friends at Archie’s Soda Shop, is archived at the William Downes building of the Mystic River Historical Society and shared in a photo gallery with his anecdotes at www.mystichistory.org.
At the age of 6 in 1922, Virgil attended the dedication of the Mystic River Bridge, and recalled that Connecticut’s Gov. Edward Lake was there. Virgil was a longtime member of the former Bee Bee’s Breakfast Club, a group of friends who were also family. He was a member for more than seventy years, of the Mystic Fire Department-B.F. Hoxie Engine Company, of Mystic Seaport, for fifty years, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and the Thomas Stanton Society. When asked his secrets in living to 100, he said to “eat as many sweets as you can, don’t smoke, and keep moving.”
A longtime employee of the U.S. Postal Service, Virgil retired from the Post Office on East Main Street, Mystic. He was predeceased by a sister, Doris Evelyn Huntley (1915-1981).
A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 9:00 am at the Dinoto Funeral Home, 17 Pearl Street, Mystic, CT. Burial with full military honors will follow in Elm Grove Cemetery, 197 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic.
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