Front Royal Rotarians and friends meet to pay tribute to Dr. “Chuck” Huber who died June 1

A clutch of Rotarians, colleagues and family friends met over drinks at the Shenandoah Golf Club’s (SVGC) regular “Fire Pit Friday” outdoor picnic June 19 to memorialize the life of a popular and longtime member of the Rotary Club of Front Royal, Dr. Charles M. (Chuck) Huber

This was the club’s first “actual” meeting since going “virtual” last March. President Bret Hrbek took the microphone during a musical lull to laud Huber’s long life of service to his club and his community, capped by a collection toward the Warren Memorial Hospital to be delivered in the retired physician’s name. Ultimately, it totaled close to $1,000.00. Huber died from pancreatic cancer three weeks ago, June 1, at the age of 79.

While practicing medicine in Front Royal for 31 years, Huber was president of the local hospital’s executive committee and also served as chairman of the Department of Medicine. He retired in 2006.

Rotarians were encouraged to invite guests who knew and admired Chuck Huber. Among them was Susan O’Kelly of Rockland, a fellow parishioner at Calvary Episcopal Church and a longtime friend. She expressed “what a great privilege it was to have been blessed with Chuck’s friendship.” A now-retired member of the Blue Ridge Hospice staff, O’Kelly remembered him as “always the consummate gentleman … who used all of his God-given talents to serve his fellow man.”

Chuck and Margaret Huber pose with their beloved Jack Russell Terrier. Courtesy Photo/Calvary Episcopal Church

An empty chair at the ceremony belonged to another colleague and friend, Dr. Thomas A. (Tommy) Ball, caught up in fulfilling late medical appointments at Front Royal Family Practice, something Huber would have understood. In a message, Ball expressed sorrow at missing a tribute to “a good guy.”

Outside his medical practice and activities with the Rotary club, Huber served in leadership positions in a score of local charitable and civic organizations, including Blue Ridge Hospice, American Cancer Society, Warren County Chamber of Commerce, American Heart Association, Warren Heritage Society, St. Luke Clinic (staff physician), and Samuels Public Library.

He was a member of the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and was an A.D Williams Scholar at the Medical College of Virginia. In 1975, he joined Dr. F.A. Irani in forming Front Royal Internal Medicine Associates, Ltd.

For many years, Huber was an active member of Calvary Episcopal Church in Front Royal. He was also a U.S. Navy veteran.
Huber is survived by his wife of 57 years, Margaret, their daughter, Anne Gorham of Lorton, Va., and son, Charles N., of Annapolis, Md., and a sister, Patricia Hamrick, of Reno, Nev.

Dr. Charles (“Chuck”) Huber, R.I.P.

(Malcolm Barr Sr., our contributing writer, is a member of the Rotary Club of Front Royal and a friend and colleague of Chuck Huber for some 17 years. Echoing Dr. Ball, he describes Huber also as “a good – and considerate – guy.”)