03/10/2026
Gary Liddle Huxford
Gary Liddle Huxford, 94, passed away peacefully on March 7, 2026, at his Monmouth, Oregon, home.
Gary was born March 28, 1931, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Ila Lucille Liddle and Peter Huxford. When he was eight his parents moved briefly to Chico, California, then to Astoria, Oregon. They were living in Astoria in 1941 when WWII began. His Dad's new job working in the shipyards took the family to Portland, Oregon, where Gary attended junior high and high school. He graduated from Franklin High School in 1949 and attended one school year at Brigham Young University before being called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the British Mission. Most of his two years of mission service was in Ireland, eventually serving as District President.
Gary was drafted into the U. S. Army in 1953 and served for two years as Communications Chief at a base in Detroit, Michigan. After being honorably discharged, he returned to BYU where he met his future wife, Catherine Davis. They were married December 14, 1956, in Logan, Utah. After Gary's graduation from BYU with a degree in history, the couple moved to Seattle, Washington, where Gary enrolled for graduate study at the University of Washington, receiving Masters and Doctorate degrees in history. By this time Gary and Catherine had the first two of their eight children, daughters Leslie and Lynne, born in Seattle.
In 1961 Gary accepted his first college teaching job and began teaching at Oregon College of Education (now Western Oregon University) in Monmouth, Oregon. From 1962 to 1966 Gary served as Branch President of the new little Monmouth Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carol and Shaun were born while the family lived in Monmouth.
In 1966 Gary accepted an offer to teach history at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, where he taught for three years. Two daughters were added to the family while in Utah, Janice and Alison. In 1969 Oregon College of Education lured Gary back to Monmouth, and the family moved to property on a hilltop west of town, finishing the partly-built house and planting Douglas fir trees. The final two Huxford children were born in 1971 and 1974, sons Tom and Dale.
Gary taught at OCE/Western Oregon University until his retirement in 1994. He took several opportunities to travel and do further study, and several of these trips took him back to Ireland and England. In 1975 Gary swapped jobs with a history professor at Springfield College in Massachusetts so the Huxford family could experience the bi-centennial year in New England, surrounded by history. In 1994-95 Gary was commissioned to write a history of the college, Since 1856...Historical Views of the College at Monmouth, and began service as bishop of a Latter-day Saints Ward.
Gary's activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continued throughout his life. He served as a missionary locally several times, but in 1997 he and Catherine volunteered to serve a fulltime mission and were called to the Kenya Nairobi Mission. They served nine months in Kenya and nine months in neighboring Ethiopia. In 2000 they volunteered again, this time going to Haiti for another eighteen months where Gary was assistant to the mission president. Gary's teaching and leadership skills, kindness and generosity were always in demand. For ten years he also served as Stake Patriarch.
In recent years, Gary cherished his time at home on the hill surrounded by music he loved, visiting with dear friends, rejoicing in Spring blooms, Summer vegetables, and the colors of leaves in Fall.
Gary is survived by his brother John, his sister Eileen Erickson, his wife Catherine, seven of his eight children, 21 of his 22 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is planned for Friday, March 27, at 11:00 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel, 783 W. Church Street in Monmouth with an open house to follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Gary's name to the WOU Foundation or the Oregon Symphony.
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