COLUMBUS
On July 31, 2024, Marie (Yium) Huntington (86) passed away in her sleep at her home. After many years of happy and busy tables of food and conversation, she leaves us looking at an empty seat. She will be missed by everyone she fed or entertained over the years, which is almost everyone she knew.
Marie is survived by and dearly missed by Larry, her husband of 59 years; her son, Chris (Shasta) and grandson, Dagim of Indianapolis, Indiana; her brother, Jackson (Milli) of Chatanooga; and many beloved nephews and nieces.
She is predeceased by her parents, Joe Yium and Chew Yook Gum; and brothers Johnson, Pershing, and Thomas.
The Dallas Morning News reported Marie’s birth on February 16, 1938. After years of stringent immigration policies regarding Chinese labor, Marie was said to be the first Chinese girl ever born in Dallas, Texas. She grew up in a Cantonese-speaking household and learned English at school with the help of her four watchful older brothers, each of whom was named after an American President or General. Proud of both her Chinese and American heritage, when an eight-year-old Marie was asked by a white reporter to find China on a globe, she retorted, “But why not Texas?”
Marie graduated from W.H. Adamson High School in Dallas, and through the sacrifices of her brothers, and her own hard work, including stint as a model for Neiman-Marcus, she was able to attend Mary Hardin Baylor College and East Texas State University. She became chair of the English department at the high school she once attended, and then went on to teach in Denver, Colorado, where she met her husband, Larry, and they had their son, Chris. They moved to California, and then to Columbus, Indiana, where Larry had grown up. Marie became known as a generous cooking teacher, a reliable and innovative caterer, and the owner of Cooks & Company, a retail landmark that started in 1979 in Eastbrook Plaza, and thirteen years later became a familiar destination on Washington Street. Almost entirely self-taught, Marie gave lessons in using food to create friendships and memories. Marie enjoyed traveling with family and friends throughout the United States and to many countries, including France, Mexico, Canada, Italy, Spain, Indonesia, and Singapore.
A gathering of family and friends will be held at Barkes, Weaver & Glick Funeral Home on Washington Street from 3-5 p.m. Monday, August 5, 2024.
In lieu of flowers, mourners might make a donation to either the The Patachou Foundation, an Indianapolis group which does so much to provide meals for children, or Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, which provided care for Marie during her final weeks.
Or, and this would also have made Marie very happy, you might make an out-of-the-ordinary meal for someone you love. If you did this while listening to John Denver, it would make her smile.
The family wishes to thank Precious Nawezhi for her help and care in Marie’s last days.
Condolences and special memories may be shared with the Huntington family at barkesweaverglick.com.
