To Mike’s family, please accept my condolences in this time of sorrow. I pray that Almighty God, Father of mercies and God of all comfort, maintain you all in His care. I will continue to light a candle at Divine Liturgy and to pray for Mike - that his memory be eternal in God's Kingdom. Amin.
I offer you some memories of Mike…
In life you will have the opportunity to meet many people. Some briefly, some you will know all your life. Some of those people will leave a permanent and indelible mark on your journey through life. And, from those, there will be people who you look back upon your experiences with and say “Yes, I am glad to have known them”.
Mike Hufford is one of those people.
I worked with Mike for several years. It didn’t take long to know that he is one of those people who you are glad to meet in life. To say Mike loved life, his family, and had an incredible sense of humor is an understatement.
Thinking about Mike, what comes to mind professionally is a man who was very competent at his job, a leader. He was dedicated to his credit union, to his employees, and being himself. With Mike, there was no pretention, no façade. He was a good guy and always willing to lend a helping hand. He was someone I would call a “Good man in a storm” – cool headed and dependable.
To say Mike was a Raiders fan is another understatement. When someone walked into the IT area, it was hard to not notice the Raiders flag hanging there. As a Raiders fan myself, that was the spark for a personal connection.
For several years, Mike and I had an unofficial monthly meeting – nothing formal on the calendar. I would usually go to the IT area, sit down in his office and we would talk about IT Security, Risk, or Disaster Recovery topics. Invariably, we ended up talking about other things. Depending on the season it could be the A’s or the Raiders, sometimes about our kids/family, sometimes about the availability of Pliny the Elder, sometimes he’d fire up YouTube and we would watch the latest post of Epic Rap Battles of History. It always ended in laughter.
My favorite memory of Mike is also what I consider to be the best Raiders game I have attended.
Back in November 2014, Mike, Mike’s dad and Gordon Baker (former IT employee from the credit union currently living it up in Hawaii) had tickets to the Raiders-Chiefs game. Mike offered me the 4th ticket. Fans may remember this dark season as the Raiders were suffering from a 16-game losing streak going into this game with KC, who was heavily favored to win. Despite the heavy rain and cold, attendance and spirits were high that night at the Coliseum.
As we were huddled over a small pub table sipping pints of Guinness pre-game, I remember Mike saying that no matter what, the Raiders must win playing any team wearing red or orange. I marveled at the way he struck up a conversation with the table next to us with his easy going manner and infectious laugh.
The first half was promising with the Raiders leading the Chiefs 14 - 3. The second half was tough with Oakland's defense mostly on its heels against a dominating KC offense. Mid-4th quarter, the Chiefs were in the lead 17 - 20.
Then began an epic 8-minute slug fest with the Raiders grinding down the field from their 20 to within the Chiefs red zone. Every successful play, every yard gained, was cause for jubilant celebration. We knew that this was it, the last chance for the Raiders to score. With less than 2 minutes on the clock, the 17-play drive ended with a Carr TD pass and Janikowski hammering in a point after that pushed the Raiders into the lead 24 - 20...and the crowd went wild!
With less than 90 seconds to go, the Raiders defense rose to the occasion (including a double sack on the Chief’s QB) and effectively shut down the Chief’s last drive…and the crowd went wild…again!
Through the roar of the crowd, the sound of cannon, the high 5’s, backslaps and bear hugs, I remember a father and son embracing in pure joy.
Best Raiders game ever.