Former Portage Manor resident and advocate remembered for positivity and the 'best hugs'

Photo by: Greg Swiercz

Dec. 26, 2025

SOUTH BEND — Chaplain, spokesperson and former Portage Manor resident Mark Huffman died on Christmas Eve after being hit by a car five days prior. He was 60.

Huffman had moved back to South Bend from Fort Wayne, after being relocated due to the closing of Portage Manor, and was excited about his job working for the University of Notre Dame as an usher, his friend Jenny Piontek told The Tribune on Dec. 26. He was even friends with the women's lacrosse team, Piontek said.

Piontek and Huffman became friends a few years before Portage Manor closed, she said. Huffman was probably one of the first people she talked to at Portage Manor, Piontek said.

Huffman was walking near the University of Notre Dame campus on Dec. 19 when he was hit by a vehicle traveling near Indiana 23 and Douglas Road around 7 p.m. Huffman lived at Wood Ridge Assisted Living Community, which is a nine-minute walk from where the crash took place.

The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's office said initial reports show that the driver, Robert W. Steinmetz, 77, from Decatur, Mich., was driving north on Indiana 23 when Huffman walked into the road and was hit. Steinmetz, who did not show signs of impairment, is cooperating with authorities, the prosecutor's office said in a Dec. 21 press release.

"It breaks my heart," Piontek said. "I don't blame anybody, but I also feel like I can remember people on the county council saying, 'We want them to be somewhere that's safe,' and I'm thinking, it's not safe everywhere people went. There are other facilities where there are Portage Manor people that are even worse than that intersection."

Huffman was transported to the hospital for treatment of his critical injuries, the prosecutor's office said in its press release.

Piontek said she vaguely remembered hearing that a pedestrian had been hit by Indiana 23 and Douglas. It didn't even "dawn on her," she said, that something might be wrong with Huffman until her husband asked her about him. The following day, Piontek visited Huffman at the hospital.

"He was not conscious," she said. "He was on … I'd never seen so many machines."

Huffman's family came to visit, Piontek said. Later, she said, she called to visit him again but was told he wasn't there anymore.

The Tribune was unable to learn if Steinmetz faces charges from the incident.

Fighting for Portage Manor

Huffman lived at Portage Manor — the former county-owned home for adults with disabilities and mental illness — for 33 years. Piontek said Huffman had a developmental disability but described him as intelligent and as having a great memory. 

Huffman remained positive when it was announced that Portage Manor would close, Piontek said. 

“It bothered him, but a couple of times, he kind of checked me and said, ‘We have to be Christian about it. Don’t be too upset with them,'” she said.

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners and the St. Joseph County Council voted to close Portage Manor in June 2023. The initial announcement that the county planned to close the home touched off several months of controversy as members of the community attempted to find ways to keep it open.

Huffman spoke at several of the public meetings where Portage Manor's future was debated and was a panelist for a Tribune Talks forum following the council's final vote to close the facility. Portage Manor closed July 31, 2023.

“Most of us are taking it pretty good,” Huffman said during the Tribune Talks forum on June 15, 2023, about the closing of Portage Manor. “Some residents have explosive behavior or autism. It makes it hard for them to take it because of the nature of their disability.”

Though remaining positive, Piontek said Huffman would throw in little quips about the situation. 

“Well, they can’t move me out of here,” she said, recalling his words.

Huffman once told The Tribune that residents would be happy “as long as we’re still together and remain in South Bend.” After moving to Fort Wayne for less than four months, Huffman moved back to South Bend to be closer to his fiancée, Piontek said.

Huffman was a man who always found the good in every situation, Piontek said.

“He said (County Commissioner) Derek Dieter was a good guy and he had done some things to improve things over at Portage Manor in terms of adding sidewalks and stuff,” she said. 

After he had moved back to South Bend in November 2023, Huffman told The Tribune's reporting partners at WNDU-TV that former Portage Manor residents are adjusting and trying to make the best of the situation.

"It’s all water under the bridge. There is nothing we can do about it now. Taken that I am back in South Bend, I am happy where I am. I am happy that I am able to get back to work,” Huffman told WNDU-TV.

Remembered for his passion and giving the 'best hugs'

"He was extraordinary — just the way he lived his life,” Piontek said about her friend. “He had so little, but he was always so positive.” 

She'll remember him as a man who lived his life to the fullest, didn’t let things stop him, lived with purpose, who loved God and loved preaching, and gave the best hugs, she said.

“I’m happy because I know that he’s with Jesus," Piontek said. "Here’s Christmas Eve, and he got to go home and to heaven and he got to celebrate Jesus’ birthday with him."