Columbus police officer dies in climbing accident

ALBANY — South Georgia residents are grieving the loss of a Columbus police officer who was killed while rock climbing this past weekend in north Georgia.

Suzanne Huffman, 40, a former Albany resident, reportedly fell some 30 feet Saturday while repelling at the popular “Rocktown Trail” on Pigeon Mountain in Walker County, Georgia.

In a report filed Sunday by WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Walker County Coroner Dewayne Wilson said it appeared Huffman died from blunt force trauma, but that the body would be transferred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) crime lab in Atlanta for an autopsy.

David Huffman, her stepfather, said Huffman was active in youth outreach in the Columbus area and was leading a youth church retreat to Pigeon Mountain at the time of the accident.

Huffman’s mother, Peggy Huffman, said her daughter was involved in the church and in youth programs because she was a devout Christian who urged others around her to live life to the fullest and cherish time with family and loved ones.

“I know that she loved the Lord and she loved her children with all her heart,” Peggy Huffman said. “She also believed that life was short and that people should be right with the Lord, live their lives and not worry about material possessions. She had her priorities right and understood what was important. She was so full of life and so happy.”

David Huffman added that since news of the accident reached the Columbus community where Suzanne Huffman lived and served, the outpouring of grief and support for the family has been tremendous.

He said some area churches have already joined together and started a GoFundMe.com support page titled “Support Suzanne Hoffman’s Sons” to help raise money to support Huffman’s five boys.

“The outpouring from the community is amazing,” said David Huffman. “She affected a lot of lives. She saw the good and the bad in people, but she always wanted to see the good. She was a really, really good person. She loved being a police officer because it allowed her to serve and help other people. It was really more of a calling for her. She was a good kid.”

In addition to her service with the Columbus Police Department since 2008, Huffman was also a veteran of the U.S. Army having served tours in Hawaii and South Korea.

Her step-father also said that Huffman had recently returned to school and was working on a degree at Columbus State University at the time of her death. Lacking only a few more semester hours, David Huffman said the school has contacted the family and informed them that the school will be issuing her a posthumous degree.

Huffman is also reported to have been an avid outdoor lover who had recently become certified as a whitewater guide on the Chattahoochee River.

Although she was a resident of Columbus, having lived there since 1985, Huffman has ties to Albany, having lived here as a young girl.

David Huffman said Suzanne Huffman moved to Albany as a toddler and lived there until she was nine years old, before relocating with her mother, step-father and younger brother to Columbus.

As of press time funeral arrangements had not been finalized but David Huffman said the service would likely be held Friday at 2 p.m. at Cascade Hills Church in Columbus. The family will also receive visitors Thursday evening from 4-7 p.m. at Striffler-Hamby Funeral Home, also in Columbus.