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Laura Hufford, Anthony’s mother, described him as a loving person who decided to stay in Ohio to help take care of his ailing grandmother while the rest of his family moved to central Florida in 2010.
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A 2007 Northmont High School graduate, Hufford went on to study medical coding and billing at Miami Valley Career Tech Center before studying Social Welfare at Sinclair Community College. Several of his relatives had careers in the medical field, which helped steer him down the same path, according to his mother.
Staying to help his grandfather take care of his grandmother only helped push him toward a career in medicine.
“He always wanted to help people,” Laura Hufford said. “He was just this really cute, sensitive kid.”
Laura Hufford called her son a “Trekkie,” a term often used for fans of the Star Trek franchise. She said he can be seen paying homage to one of his favorite characters in the franchise, Spock, with the ‘Vulcan salute.’
The hand gesture is also accompanied by the phrase “Live long and prosper.” It’s one of his mother’s favorite phrases now.
“Live long and prosper. That’s pretty much what I want on his gravestone,” she said.
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Katie Schwaiger, a childhood friend of Hufford, said the two were neighbors from when she was 5 until she was 14. Most of his family had moved to Florida, while Hufford stayed in the Englewood area with his grandparents. Schwaiger said her friend “was a loving, caring person who was always willing to help anyone.”
Hufford’s grandfather, Ed Widder, said Hufford was a “very brilliant guy” who was “a bit of a loner.”
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Widder said he hadn’t spoken to Hufford in several days after visiting Hufford’s parents in Florida. He said now he and his family has to plan his services.
“We’re trying very hard to get him buried. That’s the next step,” Widder said.
Laura Hufford said she and her family weren’t financially prepared to take the entire family back to Ohio, let alone pay for funeral expenses.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for funeral expenses, while Hufford's family tries to find a way to make it back to Ohio. Donations can be sent by clicking here.
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