Murrel Gene Huffman, 66, of Poway, California, passed away unexpectedly on June 24th, 2026 at Scripps La Jolla Hospital while waiting for heart surgery.

Born at Balboa Naval Hospital on August 11th, 1959, to the late Murrel Huffman and Betty Schmidgall, he was a San Diego native. He grew up in Clairemont as the second youngest out of seven children - all of whom have now welcomed him on the other side: Richard, Diana (Bond), Daniel, Dwaine, Suzanne (Ganatta), and Rebecca. He explored on foot, bike, motorcycle, ATV, baja bug, or banshee in many places in San Diego before development occurred (including the canyon that the 52 now runs through).

He contributed to some of that development through the numerous commercial construction projects he assisted with around San Diego and Imperial County as a Union Carpenter since the mid 1980s, including the Point Loma Treatment Plant, Kaiser Zion Facility, Francis Parker High School, Calexico College, and Sea World, to name just a few. He was known for his ingenuity, excellence, high standards, and efficiency upon his retirement in 2017 as a foreman, safety man, and mentor.

His retirement was filled with fishing, eating said fish, cooking or baking a particular dish until he mastered it, tinkering, building (including his own original pizza oven, camper, camping heater, etc), gardening, hiking, e-biking, adventuring in nature, talking to friends, and playing, whether it was horseshoes, backgammon and Mario Party with his daughter, or billiards with his beloved pool group.

Everyday he watched the news, made sure to learn something new, and enjoyed being together with his wife, Pati. He was a God fearing man and believed in the power of prayer and sharing about Jesus Christ.

He worked hard, played hard, and loved intensely as well. He is survived by his soulmate, Patricia (Campa), daughter Dana (William Box), granddaughter Yael who would seemingly jump with joy in the womb upon hearing his voice, a plethora of nieces and nephews he adored, friends and brother-like friends, and other extended family members and relations.

Please join us in honoring Murrel's memory on July 17th at 10:00am at Christ the Cornerstone Lutheran Church in Mira Mesa. A graveside service will be held at El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley 11:30am and a reception will follow at Embolden Beer Co. in Miramar.