Friends and family members said their final goodbyes to 17-year-old Dustin Huffman Saturday. Dustin was the Salem student who died in a tragic accident at Beaver Creek State Park.
It was a unique funeral procession for a very special individual. "I thought he was the absolute best kid. He was my son," said Dustin's father, David Huffman. Dustin was taken to his final resting place, the Grandview Cemetery in Salem, by pickup truck. His mom says that was fitting for the type of person Dustin was. "His dream truck was a Dodge Cummins with big stacks and a diesel." So, someone arranged for his final trip to be in that dream truck.
The cemetery service began with a song from Cheyenne West, a country music singer, who was in Beaver Creek State Park when Dustin's accident happened. The service ended with fireworks, appropriate for both Dustin's personality, as well as the day his funeral took place. Dustin's mother says she hopes people take to heart some of the values in one of her son's favorite movies. "Dustin loved the movie 'Pay It Forward'. He loved the principal behind it and he lived it. He was always helping people, never expecting anything in return."
A phone call from someone that the family didn't even know was just one of countless stories that shows Dustin certainly did "pay it forward", always trying to help. "She got stuck in the snow. Dustin came up in his little red truck with a friend and they tried and tried to get her out. They couldn't do it, so they came home and got a chain. They went back and got her out of the now. They wouldn't take a dime for it. All he wanted was a handshake," Dustin's dad explains.
Dustin would have turned 18 on August 21. Right now, the family is putting together a special concert featuring Cheyenne West on his birthday. All the proceeds will go to the Dustin Huffman Memorial Scholarship.
