Community rallies to support family of local man who passed away
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ASHTON – A local business is honoring the life of a beloved community member with a memorial fundraiser Wednesday.
Frostop Drive-In at 26 North U.S. Highway 20 in Ashton is hosting a fundraiser for Ashton native Chase Huntsman, who passed away May 9 from medical complications related to open-heart surgery.
Jerrami Marotz, Huntsman’s cousin, and his wife, Riki, are helping to organize the fundraiser. Riki tells EastIdahoNews.com Huntsman grew up in Ashton but lived in Idaho Falls for the last 10 years.
He was a painter and body technician at Peterbilt.
“He was very good at painting. He painted all the semis at Peterbilt,” Marotz says.
Huntsman was an avid outdoorsman and loved fishing, hunting, camping and cooking.
“He loved to smoke food and feed people. He also liked fires and blowing things up!” Marotz recalls with laughter. “He was a very good dad. He leaves behind two children and an amazing fiancee who he’d been with since 2012.”
Huntsman’s parents, Kerry and Patti, are also from Ashton. Kerry recently retired from a longtime career with Fall River Electric.
Read Huntsman’s death notice here.
The restaurant is hosting the Strong Hearts for Chase Fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fifty percent of all the proceeds from in-store purchases will go towards Chase’s family. Raffle tickets are also available for multiple prizes donated by business owners and community members.
Among the prizes are an ATV trailer valued at $1,000 donated by Aqua Tronics in Idaho Falls. Jeff Marotz, Chase’s uncle, donated a $200 custom-made knife.
Other prizes include a gas can, nozzle and hat from Golden Spike Motorsports, a 3-night stay at The Dancing Bear log cabin in Driggs from Janet Griffon, a fiddle signed by Charlie Daniels donated by Randy and Annette Marshall, a $100 fishing package from J&R Brokerage and much more.
The full list of prizes can be seen on the Frostop Drive-in Facebook page below.
The raffle drawings won’t happen until Saturday.
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“Hannah Mccausey (the owner of Frostop) is amazing with helping us with this fundraiser for Chase’s family. We are still selling raffle tickets for the fundraiser until 4 pm Saturday 5/22. You can purchase them at Frostop, Dave’s Jubilee, Ashton Flea market or get in contact with me,” Marotz posted on Facebook.
Raffle tickets are $5 apiece or $20 for five tickets, the proceeds of which also go towards the Huntsman family. Cash donations will be accepted as well
If you’re unable to attend but would still like to donate, an account has been set up at The Bank of Idaho on the Huntsman family’s behalf. The Ashton Community United Methodist Church is also accepting donations for the family.
On May 25 between 5 and 7 p.m., Chick-fil-A in Ammon will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Huntsman family. Just mention Chase’s name.
Marotz is grateful for the response from the community and she’s inviting you to support the fundraiser any way you can.
“We thank the community for all the support they’ve given to the family (over the last 10 days),” Marotz says. “The family and Chase’s children still need your continued support.”
Raffle tickets can be purchased at Frostop or in advance through Venmo via @Riki-Marotz.
Our attorneys tell us we need to put this disclaimer in stories involving fundraisers: EastIdahoNews.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries.