Karl Huntoon, Distinguished Lawyer, MHS '68, Rest in Peace

H. Karl Huntoon, 61, a proud Moline man who valued and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of his family, his friends, his clients, and his community, passed away January 1, 2011 at Trinity Pathway Hospice, Bettendorf, IA after a short battle with aggressive brain cancer.

A time to celebrate Karl’s life will be held Sunday January 9th, 2011 from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Moline Public Library. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the H. Karl Huntoon Memorial Fund, care of The Moline Foundation, 817 11th Avenue, Moline, IL 61265. This fund will be used to continue Karl’s efforts to continually improve the library and the community. Private family burial will be in Moline Memorial Park. Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd. Moline is assisting the family.

Karl was born December 19, 1949 in Davenport, IA to Harry Kline and Margit Anderson Huntoon. During the summer of 1970 he attended summer school at Dartmouth College where he met his wife of thirty eight years Andrea Dickgiesser. They were married July 29, 1972 in Woodbridge, CT.

He graduated from Moline Senior High School in 1968. He then attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received a B.S. with honors in Economics in 1972. He then received a Juris Doctor Degree from the College of Law at the University of Illinois in 1975. He was accepted to the Illinois Bar Association on October 15, 1975 and the Iowa State Bar Association on August 19, 1992. He was also admitted to the US District Court, Central District of Illinois and the US Tax Court. Karl practiced law for thirty five years in Moline concluding at Katz, Huntoon and Fieweger.

During his undergraduate years he became very active in Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He continued to improve Delta Upsilon by serving the Alumni Corporation of the Illinois Alumni Chapter, becoming President and serving in that role until 1980. In 1981 he was elected to the DU International Fraternity’s Board of Directors serving various roles including Chairman of the Board from 1988 to 1991. He also received many fraternity awards and honors including the Outstanding Alumnus Award, and the prestigious Delta Upsilon Meritorious Service Award.

Karl improved his profession with involvement with the Rock Island County Bar Association serving as Secretary/Treasurer, Vice President, and President. He was an Assembly member from 1994 to 1999 for the Illinois State Bar Association and also served as a member of the Real Estate Section Council from 1992 to 1999. He had been a member of Quad City Estate Planning Council since 1992. Karl strived to improve the future by being an Instructor of Business at Augustana College and was awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award for 1979-1980 and 1980-1981.

First Congregational Church of Moline was improved by Karl’s time as he was a Sunday School teacher for many years. He also served on the Board of Trustees and was elected chairman.

One of Karl’s greatest gifts to the improvement of the community was his dedication of ten years on the Library Board which included the fundraising and construction of the new Moline Public Library that opened in 2006. He served on the Moline Police and Fire Commission and the Quad City Arts Board.

He is survived by his wife Andrea “Anne”; two sons who were honored to have him as their father James (Molly) Huntoon of Pawley’s Island, SC and Mark (Sabrina) Huntoon of Bettendorf, IA; three grandchildren he very much adored; a sister Elizabeth Huntoon of Chicago, IL; and a very dear friend Truman Symmonds who helped him tirelessly during his illness.

Online condolences may be expressed to Karl’s family by visiting his obituary at www.esterdahl.com.

Celebration of Life:
Sunday January 09
2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Moline Public Library
3210 41st Street
Moline, IL 61265
(309) 762-0609 

Karl Huntoon

Jan McKenzie - For those of you who know Karl Huntoon, please take a minute to think of him today, and maybe say a prayer for him and his family. Today is his birthday. He went into hospice care about a week ago. The chemo and radiation didn't seem to help. This picture is from a 2007 project called My Favorite Book. ...It's Karl with "A Prayer for Owen Meany".

Moments at Christmas

Bethany smiled for all her photos.

Martin held his two sisters at once, Bethany on the left, Erin Joy on the right.

Chris posed with Erin Joy, who displayed the teeth we had to have removed because of involuntary grinding.
Erin Joy smiled immediately after the extractions.

Christmas reminds us of our losses. My wife and I will have a great time with Martin and Tammy's family, especially since we live only a few minutes away from them. Sometimes I imagine two other families that might have been there - Bethany's and Erin's.

Most of the time, I look back at those unique moments with our daughters. They were disabled by neurological degeneration, which made them progressively weaker. However, they were alert, smart, and eager to communicate with smiles, laughter, crying, pouting, and some deliberate actions. Muscle control was very difficult, but Erin could dig her nails into me to get attention and laugh at me for yelling "Ow, you did that on purpose." That was her Olympic gold medal, quite an accomplishment.

Bethany was once "disciplined" at school, put in the corner. She found a mirror and watched the class, smiling at outsmarting the teachers, who loved her cleverness.

My wife and I were talking about the Bethany/Erin effect on our lives. We had to battle for the most basic care for both of them. Medical insights were difficult to get across to the medical people, and the helping professions were often in the way, too.

We learned to enjoy the moments with all three children, even though they were tinged with sorrow, especially because we knew the inescapable facts. We still talk about how much fun it was to put Erin in a hammock and swing her around on her birthday.

Bethany laughed about spitting her least favorite food back at her nurse, and her nurse loved telling us. When I hear about the loss of a friend, I think about those moments.

I learned that a prominent Quad-Citian, Karl Huntoon, was taken to hospice care the other day. I only remember him as a student at Moline High. Like many others, I moved around the country and lost touch with many Moliners. Now I am in touch with classmates, some on a regular basis, through blogging and Facebook. I am in awe of the many accomplishments of my classmates, from rocket science to medicine to community service.

Blogging is a time warp machine. I look up the old photos and see my friends as they were in school. Now they are grandparents with grandchildren who look just like them. I see a FB photo and think, "That has to be Tim's grandson." Or "Three in a row - same blue dress!" (Kathy's clan), because grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter all posed in the same dress.

The best memories are those seemingly trivial events that grow in importance over the years. Eventually they dwarf everything else. The earthly treasures are nothing in comparison with the spiritual treasures of the Gospel. In fact, the birth of Christ was a trivial event for most people on earth. The day was unheralded, except for the shepherds. The politicians feared Him, but the Wise Men from the East came to observe the promised Savior, bringing gifts.

Holiday trips were difficult then, too. Going to Bethlehem was a long, tedious uphill climb. The inn had no room. The relatives failed to accommodate the Holy Family, who traveled incognito. No one important recognized their historic importance. A baby in a manger looks appealing now, but I do not know of any mother who wants to give birth in an animal shed and lay her firstborn in a feeding trough.

Luther had a humorous way of chiding his congregation. He said they would have gladly changed the diapers for Baby Jesus. He said, "Why not do it now? Serving your neighbor is doing the same for Jesus."