Born on January 30, 1919, in Baltimore, Maryland, Huisken later moved to the Midwest with his family, living in Wisconsin and Illinois. While attending Purdue University, Huisken enlisted in the United States Navy Reserves. After graduation, he received commissioning as an officer, first as a Ensign and later a Lieutenant Junior Grade. He served on the USS Steamer Bay, which was as an escort carrier that assisted in various operations in the Palau Islands, the Philippines, and Japan. The ship returned to the West Coast of the United States in August of 1945. After his discharge on April 22, 1946, Huisken began his career with General Electric in the plastic division of the company. His career took him to various places, including Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Decatur, Illinois, Taunton and Lynn, Massachusetts. While in Pittsfield, he met Janet Gray, whom he married on October 26, 1946. The couple bore a daughter, Deborah, and a son, David. After his retirement from General Electric, he and his wife moved to Central Florida, settling in Leesburg. On July 3, 1996, Huisken passed away at the age of seventy-seven, leaving behind his wife and two children. The Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, placed a memorial headstone in honor of Huisken and later for his wife, Janet, who passed away in 2008.

In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for k-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.]]>
Veterans Legacy Program Collection]]> ]]>
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