Lynn Huffman, adopted daughter of Gene Castle (1922-1974) and Nancy (Whipple) (1923-1987) Huffman, was born 1 August 1949, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana.
Lynn's grandfather, also named Lynn, became the sole owner in 1925 of the Valparaiso Daily Messenger newspaper in Porter County. He also supervised the 1929 merger of the Messenger with the Vidette. In 1929 he became the sole owner of The Vidette-Messenger and over time expanded his newspaper ownership to include 4 Lake County, Indiana weeklies and 2 Porter County, Indiana weeklies. Lynn Whipple, born 1894, died unexpectedly in 1939. His wife, Lucile took over newspaper ownerships. At Lucile's 1977 death the newspaper ownerships were divided between Nancy Whipple Huffman, Lynn's mother, an aunt and their children. The family sold all newspaper holdings in 1985.
Lynn's father Gene was an US Army Air Corps veteran of World War II. He earned a B. S. degree from Purdue University in 1946 and went on to obtain a PhD. He became the manager of production engineering for the Motor Wheel Division of the Goodyear Company in Lansing. Gene was very involved in community service and at the time of his unexpected 1974 death was vice-president of the Okemos Intermediate School Board.
Lynn graduated in 1967 from Okemos High School. She moved back to Indiana and married Herman E. Leynes 4 October 1973. They had one son before divorcing. Lynn married Larry Thomson in 1979. They had one son before divorcing. Lynn married Claude Morris and lived in Florida from 1991 until 2012.
Lynn died 6 November 2012, Wauchula, Hardee County, Florida, inurnment unknown. Lynn's parents and maternal grandparents were interred Graceland Memorial Park, Valparaiso.
The Times (Munster, Indiana) Friday 16 November 2012
Lynn (Huffman) Morris, formerly of Valparaiso, IN, was born August 1, 1949 and passed away on November 6, 2012 in Wauchula, Florida. Lynn is survived by her husband Claude Morris, her sons Gene Leynes and Joseph Thompson, daughter in law Kindy Kruller, her siblings Emily Huffman and Kirk Huffman Sr.
She is also survived by her stepson Jason Morris, several aunts, 1 uncle and a host of nephews, nieces and cousins.
Lynn was born at Porter Memorial Hospital and was adopted at the age of nine months to her parents Gene Castle Huffman and Nancy Whipple Huffman of West Lafayette, IN.
She moved with her family to Hudson, Ohio at the age of four, and lived there from 1953 until 1966. She moved with her family to Okemos, Michigan in 1966. She graduated from Okemos High School in 1967, and attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids Michigan from 1967 to 1968.
She returned to her birthplace Valparaiso, IN, in 1970 and married her first husband Herman Leynes and began her family in 1973. She married Larry Thompson in 1979, and gave birth to her second son Joseph Thompson.
She moved to Florida in 1991 and married Claude Morris, where she lived out her final years.
She was well known among her friends in Valparaiso, tending bar at Northside Tap, the Elks, and she was a member of the Elks from 1979 to 1991.
There will be a memorial potluck service in Valparaiso, Indiana on November 18, 2012 at 1 p.m. at the Elks Lodge.