As Clinton County voters headed to the polls in near record low numbers this week to decided on the candidates that will represent the two main parties in this fall’s election for the top offices in Kentucky, most local voters don’t realize that a Clinton County native is currently on the job in Frankfort, inside the state’s second highest government office.

Last November, when former Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts Crit Luallen, was tagged by Governor Steve Beshearer to replace Jerry Abramson as his Lt. Governor, the long-time politician began putting together her staff that would work along side her for the two years she would likely be serving as the state’s second highest official.

As a part of her staff, she needed a “right-hand man” so to speak in the position of her Chief of Staff, and her search didn’t go on for long.

Luallen quickly reached out for one of the longest serving and best known names in Frankfort – a Clinton County native son – Phil Huddleston.

While many local residents of the Baby Boomer age are very familiar with Huddleston and his Clinton County heritage, many others who are younger were likely unaware that the Chief of Staff for Kentucky’s second highest government official, grew up in north Albany on U.S. 127.

The Clinton County News worked with Huddleston over the past few weeks through a series of emails in an effort to bring our readers a look at the success of one of our own who left years ago, but still considers home to be his beloved Clinton County.

“I still think of that stretch of roadway as God’s Country” Huddleston told the Clinton County News when remembering his youth on U.S. 127. “ I had aunts, uncles, and cousins that lived along that roadside for miles. I am happy that some of my cousins still do. ”

Huddleston, who now lives in Frankfort with his wife Pat, was the son of the late Earl F. and Maida Huddleston.

Huddleston’s early years in Albany and Clinton County likely molded his public service lifestyle as an adult, as his father was a Clinton County Sheriff and later a Clinton County Judge in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

He has two siblings, a sister, Linda Barnett, who retired after working approximately 40 years at the Albany office of South Kentucky RECC and still lives in Clinton County with her husband Keith. His brother, Doug Huddleston, lives in Bronston, Kentucky and is retired from the United State Homeland Security Agency.

Huddleston’s wife, Patricia Moreland Huddleston, is also a native of Clinton County and retired as Branch Manager of Policy Development for The Cabinet for Families and Children. She is the daughter of the late Sam and Ila Moreland. They have one daughter Joy (Brian) Kiser, a granddaughter, Lauren. and a grandson, Grant.

The life of a public servant was also instilled deeply with Huddleston’s sister, Linda Barnett, who has served several terms as a volunteer member of the Clinton County Library Board.

The history with the Clinton County Public Library and the Huddleston family is about as long as is possible here as he remembered the history his father had as County Judge in working with the first Clinton County Librarian to secure the first library, located above the Albany Volunteer Fire Department where the Albany Police Headquarters is now located.

Huddleston still recognizes the importance of a good, strong public library in a small community.

“Libraries are another source that is vital to the well-being of people,” Huddleston said. “If I recall correctly, Mrs. Eloise and my Dad came to Frankfort to get the funding to establish the first housing of the library that was on the second floor over the old Albany Fire Station.”

Huddleston, whose mother passed away just last August, recalled just how valuable the adult generation of his childhood experiences were to him and his entire generation.

“The generation before us are now all deceased,” he said. “That was the generation that instilled the principles of honesty, a solid work ethic, and good, contributing citizenship.”

Huddleston’s education began as the only first grade student in the one-room school setting at Hopkins School, a facility located just north of the Albany City Limits and still stands today in a preserved museum style state, on it’s original location adjacent to the Mountain View Recreation park.

“What a wonderful place,” he said, remembering the Hopkins School experience. “Miss Madge Smith taught all eight grades, and she was an amazing, inspiring educator of the highest caliber.”

Huddleston said he attended school in Clinton County for 11 of his 12 post-secondary education years, adding that his parents moved to Monticello in 1968, and after his senior year there, he graduated from the Monticello Independent School system in 1969.

“I have never lived outside Kentucky. but have now lived in several locations in the state,” Huddleston said. “However, the move from Clinton County and leaving my friends and family was difficult for me.”

He says that his parents, like most parents of that generation, stressed the importance of acquiring a good education, adding that it was the determination of his parents and other parents of that era, that their children were going to school to learn, be respectful and appreciative.

“In addition to the two of them and my great-aunt Thursie Traylor, I have to thank the superb teachers that I had throughout my career for imparting to me the skills that I have employed in making a living,” he said.

Huddleston recalled several teachers from the Clinton County school system that he credited for giving him the firm educational foundation that he built his career on, including Lillian Nolan, Clayton Brown, Mary Ellen Summers, Ruby Nell Upchurch, Marie Robinson, and Madge Smith.

“They were gifted, dedicated, tireless educators. I owe them every day that I earn a salary and appreciate the contribution that they have made to my life,” he said.

Huddleston also pointed out that as important as the building that houses the school is, more important to a student’s education is what goes on inside those walls.

“Hopkins School is a sterling example of how quality education is not a product of the building in which one is taught, but rather, what is imparted between those four walls,” he noted.

After high school, and attending Berea College and Western Kentucky University, where he majored in business administration, Huddleston embarked on his career in public service, beginning with his first position in 1974, as a social worker in Wayne County. He worked for the Cabinet for Human Resources (now the Cabinet for Health and Family Services) in Wayne, Pulaski, and Fayette counties and, in 1978, became a program specialist in the central office of the Cabinet in Frankfort.

Huddleston joined the Legislative Research Commission in 1980, working on several levels including as a program analyst, director of constituent services, and a stint as the Chief of Staff to the Kentucky Senate President.

In 2002, he moved to the Kentucky League of Cities until 2007, working as policy analyst and legislative liaison. In that capacity, he worked closely with local officials in addressing the needs of communities across the state and promoting economic growth to improve the quality of life for Kentuckians.

Twice during his career in Kentucky’s government structure, he was forced to put his career on hold – the first time to help his siblings care for his aging father, and the second time with the same situation surrounding his mother, who passed away just last August.

Throughout his career, he has also served in a host of volunteer positions in the communities where he has lived, including on the Salvation Army Board of Directors, the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Selective Service Board, the Board of the Kentucky Book Fair, and many other charitable and civic organizations.

“I returned to work for Kentucky’s legislative branch of government in 2011 as chief of staff to Representative Tommy Thompson, the House Majority Whip,” Huddleston said

But it was just last winter when he moved even higher up the career ladder, reaching the pinnacle – so far – of working alongside Lt. Governor Luallen.

“I am excited and tremendously honored to have been asked to work for Lt. Governor Crit Luallen,” Huddleston said of his relatively new position in Kentucky government. “She has worked her way through the ranks of Kentucky State Government earning the respect and admiration of Kentuckians far and wide.”

Still proud to be a Kentuckian, and even more so of his Clinton County roots, Huddleston’s pride for the Bluegrass State and his memories of early years in this community he still calls home, go back to his early childhood years and his start here

Additionally, this article won’t be the first time one of Huddleston’s accomplishments has been showcased in the pages of the Clinton County News.

“When I was in the 7th grade, your Dad (Clinton County News founder, the late A.B. Gibson) ran a picture of me being presented a $25 Treasury Bond when I won first place in an essay contest on ‘The Beauty of Kentucky’ sponsored by Harvey Qualls’ Service Station,” Huddleston recalled in an earlier email. “Those and these are the good ole days.”