By Rebecca Goodman
Enquirer staff writer

NORTHSIDE - Marine Cpl. Martin Forrest Huffman, a graduate of Hughes Center Zoo Academy and father of a 7-month-old boy, disappeared June 9 while scuba diving in the Gulf of Thailand.

He is presumed dead, although his body - which may have been sighted by fishermen - has not been recovered.

The former Northside resident was five days shy of his 26th birthday.

An experienced diver with certification in open-water rescue and cave diving, Huffman began a 21-day leave on June 4.

He was in Thailand taking training in the use of rebreathing equipment from a commercial dive shop when he failed to resurface after entering the water with his instructor.

Huffman was a "quiet individual, but a hard worker and a dedicated leader of Marines," said Chief Warrant Officer Robert E. Lane, Huffman's officer in charge.

"He took pride in being a Marine noncommissioned officer and challenged his peers and juniors to excel as Marines. He brought humor in rough times and stern leadership when needed. He will be missed."

Huffman was 10 months old when his family moved to Cincinnati from Lafayette, Ind.

He attended North Avondale Elementary, Shroder Paideia and Walnut Hills High School before graduating from the Hughes Center Zoo Academy in 1997.

The Zoo Academy was a good fit for someone who was passionate about nature - especially snakes - according to his mother, Jacquelyn Reed of Northside.

Huffman worked as a lifeguard at Clifton Meadows Swim Club and loved exotic excursions in the wild.

He and his father, Charles Huffman of Los Angeles, trekked in the Himalayas of Nepal.

As a student at Western New Mexico University, he went on an eight-week backpacking and canoe trip along the Rio Grande.

He spent two years at the university before enlisting with the Marines in May 1999.

He took his recruit training at Parris Island, N.C., and completed disbursing technician military occupational specialty training at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

For three years he worked as a disbursing technician - responsible for processing payments to Marines - with the 3rd FSSG in Okinawa, Japan.

Last summer he was assigned to do the same job at MATSG-21 in Pensacola, Fla.

Huffman was a "great Marine," said Cpl. Andis Ricardo Gonzales of Miami, a co-worker.

He was "always there to lead by example and always concerned with the Marines in his command. He was someone whom I seriously looked up to for advice and guidance.

"If you put Martin Huffman anywhere in the world, he will easily meet people and make friends. That was true in Japan. As soon as weekend liberty commenced, he was out the gate, making friends, taking in the culture, scuba diving and hunting."

Huffman's five-year tour of duty was scheduled to end in August.

He planned to live in Okinawa with his future wife, Kuniko Yoshiyama, and son, Kenton Forrest Huffman.

His family had a stone carved to memorialize Huffman.

Two Navy divers placed it at the dive site near Koh Sumai, Thailand, on June 18. The family held a service for Huffman on the beach afterward.

A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. July 10 at the United Church of Christ, 5808 Glenview Ave. College Hill.

Memorials: Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, or the Kenton Forrest Huffman Educational Fund at any Fifth Third Bank.