Oak Lawn man’s death tied to mid-July heat wave: ‘He had a good amount of life left in him’
Huff was just getting settled into his retirement years when he died inside his Oak Lawn home earlier this month.</p><p>His first pension check arrived the same week Oak Lawn police officers found him dead while conducting a wellness check, according to his son and local police. An autopsy determined Huff, 65, died from heat stress and cardiovascular disease.
Reported by 1 outlet — Chicago Sun-Times. See all sources ↓
Huff was just getting settled into his retirement years when he died inside his Oak Lawn home earlier this month.</p><p>His first pension check arrived the same week Oak Lawn police officers found him dead while conducting a wellness check, according to his son and local police. An autopsy determined Huff, 65, died from heat stress and cardiovascular disease. He’s the eighth person in Cook County to die from heat-related causes so far this month, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.</p><p>“I just feel like it was too soon, he had just turned 65,” said his son, Joseph Huff. “In my eyes, he had a good amount of life left in him.”</p><p>He last spoke to the elder Huff on Father’s Day in mid-June, which they now believe could have been just days before he died.</p><p>The elder Huff was found inside his Oak Lawn home on July 14, the day temperatures reached 96 degrees at nearby Midway International Airport, according to the National Weather Service and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="HtmlModule"><a class="AnchorLink" id="html-embed-module-c00000" name="html-embed-module-c00000"></a><div style="min-height:851px" id="datawrapper-vis-sD1Di"><script type="text/javascript" defer src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/sD1Di/embed.js" charset="utf-8" data-target="#datawrapper-vis-sD1Di"></script><noscript><img src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/sD1Di/full.png" alt="Heat-related causes have killed eight people in Cook County so far this year, all in July (Locator map)" /></noscript></div> </div> </div><p>His death occurred as the Chicago area was experiencing a heat wave with the maximum temperature at O’Hare International Airport falling just a few degrees shy of the record <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/weather/2026/07/14/near-record-breaking-heat-expected-as-sizzling-heat-wave-continues" target="_blank" ><u>100 degrees</u></a>, set in 1998.
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- What's the story?
- Huff was just getting settled into his retirement years when he died inside his Oak Lawn home earlier this month.</p><p>His first pension check arrived the same week Oak Lawn police officers found him dead while conducting a wellness check, according to his son and local police. An autopsy determined Huff, 65, died from heat stress and cardiovascular disease.
- How widely is it covered?
- 1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
- When was it last updated?
- 7m ago.
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Oak Lawn man’s death tied to mid-July heat wave: ‘He had a good amount of life left in him’
Sources1TypeCoverageChicago Sun-Times