Elvin
was Vice President of his freshman class, worked on the Karisma staff,
traveled with the Concert Choir, and two
musical PR teams, "The
Witnesses Trio" and and "The
Ambassadors Trio". In the
1966-67 school year he served as Associated Student Body President.
Following the summer tour
with the Witnesses Trio in 1966, he married classmate, Sandra Young of
Salem, OR. Their son, Steven was born in June of 1968 just 1
week after Elvin graduated from NU.His senior year at NU and the year following his graduation, he served as assistant pastor under Jim Hance at Bellevue Neighborhood Church. In the fall of 1969, he moved his family to Phoenix, Oregon, where he was called to pastor the Phoenix Assembly of God Church. In 1970, he and Sandy took in an infant foster child, Melissa, whom they subsequently adopted.
In 1971, Elvin and fellow NU alum, Ray Sparre, merged the Talent and Phoenix Assemblies of God churches to form Central Neighborhood Church, which they co-pastored for 2 years. When the Sparres resigned and entered missionary work in 1973, Elvin continued on as Pastor of CNC for another 15 years.
After several years of struggle in ministry and within his family, Elvin resigned from the pastorate of the church in Phoenix in 1988. Subsequently, he and his wife separated and he entered a season of spiritual disillusionment. Following a moral failure and divorce, he withdrew from church association and Christian fellowship for many years.
In 1998, through the influence of dear friend and fellow NU alum, Ray Sparre, Elvin was challenged to share a daily devotion via email. That return to reading the Bible began to open his heart again to the heart of God. From that time, the Lord gently but persistently, orchestrated events and encounters through which the process of spiritual restoration was continued.
In 2002, several old NU alums in the Oregon area decided to get together for a picnic, and Elvin was asked to emcee an informal songfest at that September gathering. It was there that Elvin met Eunice Wheeler for the first time since college days. That gathering of old college classmates was the beginning of both Elvin's and Eunice's involvement in, what has become, and annual event for NU Alumni who attended during the decade of the 1960s. These reunions have been conducted at Vandenburg Campground in Sedro-Woolley, Washington every summer since 2003. These weekend gatherings have drawn from 75 to 130 alumni each summer and have been a source of healing, restoration and rekindling of wonderful friendships
On April 21, 2007, in a ceremony performed by Northwest University Alum, Dr. Linfield Crowder, Elvin was married to Eunice Wheeler who had been assisting him in coordinating the reunions in Sedro-Woolley since 2003. Immediately following their wedding, they sold Elvin's Van & Mobile Sharpening Service in Medford, Oregon, and moved to American Falls, Idaho where they devoted their first seven months together as "live-in caregivers" for Linfield and Nellie Blue Crowder. During those months they assisted with the medical management, and daily household functions while the Crowders adjusted to the dramatic lifestyle changes and limitations imposed on them when Doc Crowder was placed on peritoneal dialysis as a result of kidney failure. With the help of Elvin and Eunice, Doc Crowder was able to do some limited travel and fulfill several ministry opportunities during the year. In October the couple traveled with Doc Crowder to western Washington. In a special Alumni Chapel service at Butterfield Chapel at Northwest University, the Alumni Association honored Elvin as the 2007 Alumnus of the Year. In November of that year the couple assisted Doc Crowder on his 54th and final trip to Israel. It was a special delight for the Hustons to renew acquaintance with NU Alums, Larry & Connie (Logan) Hice, who were also part of that 2007 Israel tour.
Following the trip to Israel the couple began the process of preparing to move back to Southern Oregon. In mid-December 2007, they moved back into the home they had left in Shady Cove, Oregon.
For several years Eunice worked in a Christian Law Office in Medford and Elvin kept busy at home developing and maintaining websites for the Northwest University 60's alumni at nc60salumni.com, and for Dale and Rita Lidstrom at lidstroms.com. Eunice retired in March of 2014. The couple are active in Trail Community Church, and continue their work of coordinating the annual 60's classmates reunions in Sedro-Woolley.
[ page updated 12/8/16 ]