Efforts are underway to create a memorial fund to support music education in the name of Sue Hufford, the devoted Mark West Union School District music teacher who died Saturday in a crash.
Hufford, 53, and her mother-in-law, Sharon Hufford, 74, were killed Saturday night when a pickup smashed into the back of their Toyota Camry, which was stopped for a red light on Highway 12.
Sue Hufford's husband, Jay Hufford, 54, was driving and suffered a cut to his head. His father, Donald Hufford, 74, was injured and remained in serious condition Tuesday at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
After Sue Hufford's death, Mark West Superintendent Ron Calloway vowed to continue the music program that Hufford ran as the district's only music teacher.
Friends and colleagues of the Huffords are setting up a fund to help sustain music education in the school district.
"We all knew Sue well, and marveled at her kind nature and passion for the arts," said Dave Williams, vice president of Community First Credit Union, where Jay Hufford works.
"We wanted a way to keep (the program) going and to honor Sue and perpetuate her work," Williams said.
For the past six years or so, Sue Hufford's music students performed at the credit union's yearly meetings, he added.
On Monday, Williams began talking with Calloway and alumni of the Leadership Santa Rosa program, which Jay Hufford attended several years ago. They agreed to create a fund in Sue's name, perhaps an endowment fund and a scholarship, though the details are still taking shape.
In the meantime, the credit union has created accounts in the names of Sue Hufford, Sharon Hufford and the Mark West Education Foundation.
A vigil for the Mark West schools and community will be held to remember Sue Hufford at 7 p.m. Friday at San Miguel Elementary School, Calloway said. The school district is on spring break this week, but nevertheless many people have written since Saturday's crash, sending "beautiful thoughts" about the Huffords, he said.
The district is also beginning to look for a short-term replacement for Sue Hufford for the remainder of the school year.
"One step at a time," Calloway said. "As a community, we will grieve and move forward in a positive way in Sue's memory."
Anyone wanting to donate to the funds set up in the Huffords' names can visit www.comfirstcu.org/about-us/sue-hufford.aspx.
You can reach Staff Writer Jamie Hansen at 521-5205 or jamie.hansen@pressdemocrat.com.
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