James Roddy Huff

James R. "Roddy" Huff died at his home on Signal Mountain of cancer. He was 90 years old.

Born in the town of Bull’s Gap, Tn., in 1916, Mr. Huff moved with his family to Chattanooga when he was very young. He grew up in Red Bank and attended Central High School. He graduated from Central in the class of 1934. He was a member of the rifle team and graduated with the rank of captain in the ROTC.

After graduation Mr. Huff attended the University of Tennessee and majored in electrical engineering. While a student at UT he was a coop student with the Tennessee Electric Power Company. Graduating in 1939 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering, he joined Pan American Airlines in Miami, Fl., as an electronics design engineer.

After several years with Pan American, he returned to Chattanooga and joined the newly formed Tennessee Valley Authority.

When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the Army and was sent to England to build airfields. Apparently the army recognized no distinction between civil engineering and electrical engineering, or perhaps they simply felt that a good electrical engineer could do anything.

While managing the construction of numerous airfields in support of the allied cause, he found the time to meet, court and wed Anne Boughey, daughter of Sir George Boughey, Baronet.

Returning to Chattanooga after the end of the war, he rejoined TVA and had a long and distinguished career as a power systems engineer. Highlights of his career with TVA included being chairman of the NAPSIC Performance Subcommittee, chairman of the System Controls Subcommittee of the IEEE Power System Engineering Committee, and chairman of the EPRI System Planning and Operations Task Force. As a result of his contributions to these committees he was nominated for the National Medal of Science.

He retired from TVA in 1980 after 35 years of service and spent his time pursuing his many hobbies. These included restoring antique cars, repairing clocks, gardening, building doll houses and genealogy. He was an elder emeritus of First Christian Church where he taught Sunday school and served as chairman of the maintenance committee.

Roddy Huff is survived by his wife, Anne; three children; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and a spoiled and obnoxious cat.