Longtime Fresno music educator Larry Huck dies

Larry L. Huck of Fresno, a legendary director of school and community bands for six decades, died Friday after a brief battle with liver cancer. He was 80.

Former students and fellow musicians described Mr. Huck as a talented musician and teacher who both inspired and sought the best from his players.

“He had a huge shadow, and he cast it a long way,” said Cathi Graves Tudman, a music teacher and piccolo player with the Fresno Philharmonic who was one of Mr. Huck’s students at McLane High School.

“He was a class act, like they’ll never have again,” said McLane Principal Scott Lamm, who played in the school’s band under Mr. Huck’s direction in the 1970s. “He pushed us to be our best.”

Mr. Huck’s aptitude for music was evident early. He was “a very good trumpet player,” said Eiji Maruko, who said they became friends while playing in the Edison High School band.

After graduating from then-Fresno State College, Mr. Huck and Maruko played in the Sixth U.S. Army band at the Presidio in San Francisco.

Mr. Huck later earned a teaching credential at Fresno State and led the band at Edison for six years before moving to McLane. He also earned a master’s degree in music from Fresno State.

As band director at McLane for 35 years, Mr. Huck began the school’s signature Scottish pipers and dancers group in the 1960s.

“He loved music, and he loved all the kids,” said Mr. Huck’s wife, Frances Huck. More than 80 former students attended Mr. Huck’s 80th birthday party in August.

Several former students and fellow musicians are organizing groups to play at services for Mr. Huck, his wife said.

Mr. Huck led the annual Tuba Christmas concerts at Manchester Center for 20 years and helped start the Fresno Community Band.

“He was a great guy and a great musician. He insisted on perfection,” said music educator Buddy Heise, now co-director of Tuba Christmas.

Tuba Christmas draws professional and amateur musicians alike who rehearse just once before playing from a balcony inside Manchester Center.

Mr. Huck, who played trumpet and euphonium, was “fun to play under,” said Heise, who performed in Tuba Christmas for many years.

“He didn’t allow bad notes, and he knew how to fix it,” but his correction was always gentle, Heise said.

Robert Nielsen and Mr. Huck began the Fresno Community Band in 1994 and were co-directors until Mr. Huck retired in 2003.

“He was a wonderful man to work with,” Nielsen said. Over the years, many members of the band were Mr. Huck’s former students. After Mr. Huck retired, he and his wife attended almost all the band’s concerts.

Music wasn’t his only interest, however, said longtime friend and former Fresno State professor Vince Petrucci, who played golf weekly with Mr. Huck at the Fort Washington Golf and Country Club.

“He was a gentleman and a gentle man,” Petrucci said. “I never heard him use profanity — except maybe in missing a putt.”

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Larry L. Huck

Born: Aug. 26, 1931

Died: Jan. 20, 2012

Job: Retired music teacher and band director

Survivors: Wife Frances Huck, brother Walter Huck, sister Betty Thornton, many nieces and nephews

Services: Visitation 4-7 p.m. Thursday at Lisle Funeral Home. Graveside service 11 a.m. Friday at Clovis Cemetery. Gathering 11 a.m. Monday at Fort Washington Golf and Country Club.

By Paula Lloyd