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E-mail This StoryA Dallas man who has had very close ties with Lewisville for more than three quarters of a century has died.
J. L. Huffines Jr., who was best known as one the Dallas area’s top car dealership owners, died Wednesday morning after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 85.
Funeral services were conducted Friday afternoon at the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas. He is to be buried at 1 p.m. today in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
Huffines had a lifelong connection to Lewisville, having moved to Lewisville at the age of 3 when his father, J.L. Huffines Sr., moved his car dealership from Denton to Lewisville.
The Huffines Auto Group had been co-owned by J.L. Huffines Jr. and Ray Huffines. The family owns dealerships in Lewisville, Denton, Plano and McKinney.
After serving in both World War II and in the Korean War, J.L. Huffines Jr. completed his degree at Texas A&M. In 1951, he purchased his first car dealership in Commerce. While in Hunt County, he served as president of the Citizens National Bank in Greenville while at the same time overseeing a cattle ranch near Lewisville.
After his father died in 1971, he assumed responsibility for Huffines Chevrolet in Lewisville and moved his family back to the Dallas area.
In addition to being known as one of the area’s most successful car dealers, Huffines was also known as a banker, rancher, philanthropist and a Texas A&M University System regent. He had resigned only last month as a Texas A&M regent because of his ill health.
Locally, he was remembered by educators and business people as a generous man who had made numerous contributions to his city and area.
In 1979, he was named Lewisville’s Citizen of the Year.
In 1996, he purchased and donated 17 acres of land to the Lewisville Independent School District. The J.L. Huffines Sr. Middle School, near the intersection of Valley Ridge Parkway and Garden Ridge Boulevard, is now located on that property.
He was quoted as having said, “My father used to ranch on the land on which the school is now built, and in recognition of his many years on the school board, it seemed appropriate to name the school in his honor.”
J.L. Huffines Jr. was also a businessman who had been active in numerous chambers of commerce, including the Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Phillip Sharpe, director of operations of the Lewisville Area chamber, said, “He was a great supporter of the chamber and will be truly missed.”
In addition to his connection with Texas A&M as a regent, Huffines was also a charter member and president of the Texas A&M 12th Man Foundation.
He endowed teaching chairs, scholarships, and The Sydney and J. L. Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine and Human Performance. Texas A&M honored him by awarding him a place in The Letterman’s Association Hall of Honor, The Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor and he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, himself an Aggie, sent his consolations to the Huffines family.
"I am deeply saddened at the loss of a good friend,” Perry wrote. “J.L. was an inspiration
to me as an Aggie, an American and a Texan. He devoted his life to his family, served his country in time of war and built a business that employed countless Texans over the years. Anita and I extend our sincere condolences and prayers to his wife Sydney, his family and friends. Texas is a better place for the time he spent here."
Four governors nominated Huffines to three different boards, including the State Senior Colleges of Texas, The Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and the Texas A&M University System.
He also contributed his time to the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, the State Fair of Texas, the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society, Crystal Charities, and the Selwyn School, to name only a few.
Even more than being a loss to Lewisville and the state of Texas, Huffines is being mourned by his wife, six children and 18 grandchildren.
One family member said, “He was the kind of man that his former commanding officer, General George S. Patton Jr. had in mind when he said, ‘It is foolish and wrong to mourn these men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.’”
