James E. “Jim” Hughes died after a courageous seven-year fight against Multiple Myeloma Saturday, May 2, 2009, surrounded by family and friends.
Hughes was born Aug. 22, 1937, in Townsend, the eldest of four children to the late Emil and Betty Hughes.
Mr. Hughes went on to get a teaching degree from the University of Delaware. His love for teaching and music was well known and he combined the two as often as possible.
He married in 1959 and soon had two young boys, Christopher and Gregory. The family moved to Puerto Rico in 1962, as he took on a new job teaching U.S. Air Force students at Ramey Air Force Base. That marriage failed, but in the fall of 1964, he met and married a fifth-grade teacher named Janie Dunn. They taught one more year at RAFB and then they took jobs teaching Eskimo children in Barrow, Alaska. When Janie retired from teaching, Jonathan was born in 1970, followed by Jennifer in 1971.
In 1971, Mr. Hughes was promoted to field representative. His responsibilities included supervising three building supervisors and through them, 56 staff and nearly 900 students at the Barrow Day School, along with logistical and advisory support for the school in Wainwright, Alaska, 90 miles southwest of Barrow. Besides those duties, he was the contact person for all government personnel flying up to Barrow.
He took an education specialist position with the BIA’s Title One Office in Anchorage in January of 1973. For the next three years, he wrote Title One grants and visited most of the schools in the BIA system to evaluate how well the money was being used. Travel in those days was by single engine planes or planes with pontoons. For some reason, his supervisor usually put him on single engine planes even when he had to fly over water.
In 1976, Mr. Hughes was selected for another education specialist position, this time with the Federal Aviation Administration’s Training Branch in Anchorage, Alaska. After many years in the Training Branch, he was promoted to chief of training in 1980. He later became the personal assistant to the director of human resources and retired from the FAA in 1994 after 32 years of Federal Service.
He then concentrated all of his efforts on caring for Janie, who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1990. Those efforts paid off as Janie enjoyed a fair quality of life until she passed away in 1997.
Mr. Hughes then sold his Anchorage house, moved to Medford in September 1999, bought a nice house and played golf every day at Bear Creek Golf Course. It was there that he met the gal he knew would become his wife. In early 2002, he was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable but treatable bone marrow cancer. Despite the diagnosis, Jan Selby agreed to become his wife and they were married on May 21, 2002. Jan’s love and dedication to him was evident to all.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Lou.
He leaves behind his beloved wife, Jan; a brother and a sister-in-law, George and Frannie; a sister, Peggy Carter; three sons and two daughters-in-law, Chris, Greg and Jennifer, and Jon and Kimberly; a daughter and a son-in-law, Jennifer and Glenn; a stepdaughter, Marla; a stepson and a stepdaughter-in-law, Steve and Natalya; seven and a half, grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews and friends across the nation.
Mr. Hughes and his family thank his medical team, including the super staff at Asante Infusion Center, and his wonderful oncologist, Dr. Alison Savage.
Following cremation, a celebration of life will be held at a future date.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the International Multiple Myeloma Foundation, 12650 Riverside Drive, Suite 206, North Hollywood, CA 91607.
Townsend, Del. —
