A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, April 2, 2022 at the Clyde First Baptist Church.

In the late afternoon of November 1, 2021, Naoma Louise McCarley Huff passed into the loving arms of her savior, Jesus Christ, as well as those of her family and friends who had gone before.  In doing so, she regained her lost sight, her youth, and her energy, for which she was so famous.

Naoma Huff was born in Malakoff, Texas, on June 21, 1926, to Lumford Gary McCarley and his wife, Ruth Southerland. Her father owned a drilling business which took them to towns all over Texas, Oklahoma, and even as far as Kansas. She graduated as Salutatorian from Ennis High School and began her college career at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.  While pursuing her B.A. in English and Speech, she served as Youth Director at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco. After graduating with honors, she began her teaching career as a Speech Instructor at Louisiana Baptist College. From there, she began teaching English at Ennis High School.

While at Baylor, Naoma had met a young man, fresh from serving in World War II and finishing his M.A. in English, in the Browning Library at Baylor University. Their romance developed, as only theirs could, surrounded by books in a beautiful library. While she was teaching in Ennis, that young man convinced her, not only to marry him, but to leave at the end of the fall semester to go to graduate school with him.  On December 22, 1947, Naoma McCarley married Lloyd Dickason Huff, in a marriage that would span 68 years; and off they went to Indiana University in Bloomington, she to pursue her M.A. in Theatre, and he to pursue his PhD in English. While there, she was an actress in the Indiana University Touring Company. After receiving their degrees, they moved to Abilene, Texas, he to teach English as Chairman of the Department at McMurry College, and she to become an instructor of Speech and Theatre at Hardin-Simmons University.  She taught Speech briefly at McMurry College before becoming the mother of two daughters, Ruth Anmeta (Knightstep) and Joy Marie (York-McElroy).

In 1959, the family moved to Clyde, Texas, where Naoma began her 30-year career of teaching English, Speech, and Theatre in 1960 at Clyde High School.  In the summers, she taught English and Speech at Cisco Jr. College, which she continued post retirement. She held the workshop in Theatre for the Threshold Program at HSU. She was a TECAT workshop instructor in English for the University of Texas in Austin.  Through the years, she earned an M.A. in English from HSU; she also did post graduate work at Texas Christian University, Abilene Christian University, and the Freedom Foundation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, through the University of Dallas.  She did not quit the teaching profession she loved so passionately until the age of 80.

Beginning at age 16, she spent the majority of her life teaching a Sunday school class and many summers teaching Bible School in whichever church she was attending.  She cherished her years spent and friends made as a member of the First United Methodist Church in both Abilene and Clyde, as well as at First Baptist Church in Clyde, where she was a member at her passing.

Naoma's accomplishments and interests were many and varied. She was a member of the Clyde Study Club for many years and was well known for giving highly entertaining book reviews to various clubs in the Big Country area. She directed and led four European tours.  She was named Teacher of the Year at Clyde High School and was given the Outstanding Educator Award by the Clyde Ex-Student Association. Always a Beta Club sponsor, she was the Texas State Sponsor for the Beta Club for two years.  She was the Director of 10 UIL One-Act Plays in State competition in Austin, 3 times as the winner and 3 times as runner-up. She coached many State winners in the UIL Prose and Poetry competitions.  In addition, Naoma was the directing teacher of 10 winners of the Taylor Electric Co-operative Speaking Contest for Youth to Washington, D.C. Most recently, she humbly and delightedly accepted the honor of the Clyde School District naming the new theatre at Clyde High School "The Naoma Huff Performing Arts Center," or "The H-PAC," as it is affectionately called.

Mrs. Huff is preceded in death by her father and mother, Lumford Gary and Ruth McCarley; her husband, Dr. Lloyd Dickason Huff; and three sons-in-law:  John York, Phil McElroy, and Luther E. Knightstep.

She is survived by two daughters: Ruth Anmeta Knightstep, of Clyde, Texas; and Joy Marie McElroy, of Greenville, Texas.  In addition, she is survived by three grandchildren:  Daniel Dickason Knightstep and his wife, Janene Lynn, of Abilene, Texas; Mary Ruth Gainer and her husband, Ethan, of Greenville, Texas; and Sarah Marie York-Loveless and her husband, Carter, of Farmer's Branch, Texas.  Adding further to her happiness are her four great-grandchildren:  Taylor Lynn Baker and Hudson Gray Knightstep, of Abilene, Texas; and John Michael Gainer and James Samuel Gainer of Greenville, Texas.

She is also survived by much-loved cousins:  Betty Gauntt and her husband, John, of Pasadena, Texas; and Malon Southerland of College Station, Texas. Also surviving are her dear sister-in-law, Eudora E. Huff Wilson, of Shreveport, Louisiana; and her nieces:  Elizabeth (Betty) E. Watts and family, of Birmingham, Alabama; Martha L. Wilson, of Carona, California; and Dorothy L. Boulware and son, of Shreveport, Louisiana. Of special note is her being survived by her precious friends and caregivers of over six years, Michelle Gonzales and Destiny Martinez and their family of Abilene, Texas. She leaves behind many dear friends and former students who enriched her life immensely.

She suggested that memorials be made, in lieu of flowers, to the West Texas Rehabilitation Center, or to one's favorite charity. A very grateful "Thank you" belongs to the Clyde Nursing Center and their amazing staff who cared for Mrs. Huff so lovingly in her final months of life.

Visitation will be held at the Bailey-Howard Funeral Home in Clyde, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. There will be a celebration of Mrs. Huff's life, announced at a future date.