Neighbors described Perry Leon Huffman as an active member in their community, someone who always took the time to chat with people and invite others inside his home to show his artwork.
His sudden passing leaves the tight-knit community devastated, and this could happen to someone so warm and welcoming.
"I just thought something bad had happened to Perry because he's a really nice guy. I was just thinking the worst," said Jaylene Hernandez, a neighbor whose family leaves across the street from the Huffman home.
Just after 8 pm Thursday, Fresno police were called to a home on North Barton Avenue near Cedar and Nees avenues for a report of a disturbance.
The caller, later identified as 69-year-old Perry Michael Huffman, told police he had been in a fight with his father, 90-year-old Perry Leon Huffman, Sr.
Inside the home, officers found Huffman Sr. unresponsive on the ground with severe trauma to his body.
"It turned out to his son that took his life and seized the opportunity for him to become 100 like he wanted to live to be," said Jessica Leisle, another neighbor who grew close to the kind elderly man.
Officers arrested Huffman Jr. and later learned he was visiting from out of state.
Neighbors described the victim as warm and welcoming.
"If you start talking to him, you're there for 10, 15, 30 minutes -- an hour and a half. He'd invite you into his house just to check things out and show you his art," said Leisle.
Action News learned Huffman, Sr. was a career illustrator. The Fresno Bee published on its website Friday that Huffman worked for the local newspaper as a staff artist from 1963 to 1995.
According to the Armenian Museum of Fresno, prior to working for the Bee, Huffman submitted covers for the Saturday Evening Post.
"He wanted you to know about history. He wanted you to know about arts, especially William Saroyan Theater," said Leisle.
In 1984, his portrait of the Pulitzer Prize writer William Saroyan won the Centennial Fresno Fair Best of Show Fine Arts Award, according to the museum.
As recent as two weeks ago, the Armenian Museum of Fresno posted images to its Facebook page of a retrospective show featuring Huffman's work. The images captured the wide appeal of his drawings and illustrations.
"He would pick up hubcaps off the street and made art with it. If you look in his front yard, there's art all through it," said Leisle.
"I'm going to remember him as a sweet, loving, caring guy. He would always give me and my brother ice cream. He would just come over and say 'hi.'," said Hernandez.
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