Local jeweler Huntley dies

By KRISTY GILLENTINE
Eagle Staff Writer

Funeral services are Wednesday for local businessman John David Huntley, whom friends said will be remembered for his generosity and honesty.

The owner of John D. Huntley Inc. - a worldwide dealer in Swiss watches, loose diamonds, jewelry and rare coins - died Sunday at College Station Medical Center from complications following surgery, according to friends. He was 48.

The Aggie 100 - a list of the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or operated by graduates of Texas A&M University - recently named Huntley's business as No. 24 on the list for 2005.

FUNERAL SERVICES
Services for John D. Huntley of Bryan are set for 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Burial will be at Bryan City Cemetery. Memorials can be made to the Russian Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 2912, College Station, Texas 77841.

The 1979 Aggie graduate, who collected rare coins and other items since childhood, was able to turn that passion into a career by working at the Texas Coin Exchange. The owner eventually sold the store to Huntley and a few others. By 1990, Huntley opened his own business on South College Avenue and gave it his name.

Longtime friend Jerry Nance, who said he met Huntley 25 years ago and started working with him about six months ago, said he routinely went to coin and watch shows "all over the place" with him.

"He loved to travel," Nance said. "He would go to watch shows in Europe to bring back coins and jewelry and meet people from all over the world."

Huntley moved to Bryan from Killeen in 1976 and received his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M in 1979. He served as a first lieutenant in the Army National Guard with the 124th Cavalry at Fort Hood and remained an avid supporter of the military, friends said.

According to reports from friends and associates, Huntley stepped on an unknown object in his driveway Thursday night. He was treated for the pain at College Station Medical Center, where it later was discovered that the unknown object had introduced a bacterial infection into his blood.

Tommy Crenshaw, manager of Huntley's store, said doctors performed two surgeries to remove the infected tissue, but they were unable to slow the spread of the infection. He was pronounced dead just after 5 p.m. Sunday.

"He will be missed greatly," Crenshaw said. "He was one of the most fair and honest businessmen in town."

Huntley's friends said he will be remembered for his generosity not just within the local community, but overseas as well, as he often sent care packages to troops.

Father Cassian Samuel Sibley, a Russian Orthodox priest officiating at Huntley's funeral Wednesday, said Huntley's legacy is alive in the people who loved him.

"Before he died, his hospital room was inundated with people who work for him. In my experience, people don't usually have that much love and admiration for their employers, but they did for him," Sibley said. "He was a self-made man - decent and upright. He was a good father and a good family man. That will be his legacy."

Huntley is survived by his wife, Natalia, and their 5-year-old son, John II.

I worked for this man for two and half years. He took me to Vegas, New York twice, Skiing in Red River and he paid for mine and Alan's hotel room for our wedding night so we could stay somehwere nice.
We got the call around noon on New Years. "The doctor says John has only 12 hours left". We rushed to the hospital. We sat there for four hours.
I feel so lost and heartbroken.
He gave me my first job out of college. He taught me more than I know existed about business. And it seems so strange to know that a man so much a part of my life, is now gone. And I have no idea how to cope with this pain.