Mr. Huddleston was named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1962. He was one of the founders of the Colorado ASLA chapter, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

He established Sam L. Huddleston and Associates and practiced for 35 years.

He co-authored Grow Native: Landscaping with Native and Apt Plants of the Rocky Mountains with Michael Hussey in 1975, a book that predated the xeriscape movement and the push for water conserving landscapes. He believed in installing native plants as an appreciation of nature and the desire to be in harmony with it. He also believed people should adjust their lifestyles to be in harmony with the environment.

Mr. Huddleston, born in Nelson, British Columbia in 1914, was the last surviving member of a family of four boys. He received his B.A. in landscape architecture from the University of Illinois in 1937, then spent several years with the U.S. National Park Service helping design the 481-mile Blue Ridge Parkway in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia. He was one smart cookie, scoring among the top two percent on the first U.S. Civil Service exam. He joined the U.S. Army in 1942 as an engineer. One of his jobs was creating 3-D maps and models of combat zones to assist battle planners.

After World War II, Mr. Huddleston spent several months in Paris and its environs involved in reconstruction work.

Back stateside, he rejoined the National Park Service and continued work on the Blue Ridge Parkway. He was also involved with the design of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.

He acquired the McCrary landscape architecture and planning firm in 1948 and began building his reputation as a progressive yet practical planner and designer with environmental sensibilities. His early design and planning projects included portions of the Valley Highway (I-25) in Denver; Franklin Mountain Wilderness Park near El Paso, Texas; a 100,000-acre regional park system plan for Maricopa County in Phoenix; and the Colorado Big Thompson project. He also engaged in comprehensive planning for the Colorado counties of Trinidad/Las Animas, Walsenburg/Huerfano, Breckenridge/Summit and Leadville/Lake. The environmental resources inventory conducted for Maricopa County was one of the first such efforts in the U.S. Many of these county planning documents were donated by Mr. Huddleston to the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library.

As longtime residents of University Park near the University of Denver, Mr. Huddleston and his wife, Jo, are remembered as friendly and active neighbors.

Mr. Huddleston was the force behind the community’s “block captain” network, working with vigor on the Historic Buchtel Boulevard Trail and Prairie Park, and the University Park Elementary School Peace Garden.

An inveterate outdoorsman, Mr. Huddleston particularly enjoyed fly fishing.
Mr. Huddleston was preceded in death by his wife, Josephine and his son, Stephen. He is survived by his son, Mark, and grandsons Ryan and Matthew.