Margaret Hughes's obituary, Harrisville, Alcona County, Michigan ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ SUBJECT: Obituary SUBMITTER: J R Hughes, Jr EMAIL: JR4Jesus@Webtv.net DATE: Oct 04, 1999 SURNAMES: HUGHES, Wood, DuBois Nurse Margaret [Gertrude Violet Wood (DuBois)] HUGHES, R.N. was born on March 16, 1910 in Midland Ontario Canada, the fourth of eight children. She was a loyal subject of King George V. In the days when horse drawn wagons brought ice, vegetables, bread and milk products to the door. Marg was a proud Canadian, as a lass. Oh Canada, Oh Canada, she stood on guard for thee. NURSE She became a registered nurse after completing her training at St Andrews Hospital, Midland Ontario, Canada. In the summer of 1936 she met a dashing young attorney, J. (James) Russell (Rip) Hughes, from Detroit, Michigan. After a whirlwind courtship, they were married on 31 October, 1936. The old ladies of Midland said, "Marg must be pregnant to have married that American boy." "You watch, it will never last!" And when her first child was born three years later, they said, "See told you so." But they had all died by the time the marriage ended 56 years later upon the death of her husband Judge Hughes, November 8, 1992. By the time the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7. 1941 ("the day that will live in infamy") she and her husband were serving Arenac county as the Prosecuting Attorney and she was beginning a family. However her husband, J. Russell (Rip), who was exempted from being called for several reasons, including his "critical occupation" volunteered for active Navy duty in the Pacific. He spent 22 months in the Pacific campaign against the Japanese and VJ Day in August 1945. He did not serve without distinction and honor. Margaret received word that on 22 February 1945 while landing the second set of assault troops at Iwo Jima her husband, Boat Group Commander Hughes had been wounded. At first Marge thought this was a war ending wound as he had shrapnel in his legs and back. However her brave husband forsook the hospital ship. With bandages on his legs and a support brace (or belt) on his back, he had his men lower him into a Landing Craft so he was away from the ship when he was supposed to be transferred to the hospital ship. Although Nurse Margaret Hughes had mixed feelings, her wife and mother's heart swelled with pride for her brave husbands and her prayers went with him into battle. Meanwhile back in Michigan Margaret was helping the war effort by doing registered nursing at the Standish hospital. Also Marge did her part for feeding the troops as Marg learned to drive a tractor on the farm of Rip's Uncle John Anderson near Alabaster. She was like so many other faithful wives of that era who did not sit under the apple tree with anyone else til her Rip came marching home in very late 1945. In the meantime, assistant prosecutor Dennis O'Keef had been elected Prosecuting Attorney. There did not seem to be any willingness to part with the job. At that point there were two editors from Alcona County, Rusty Weber of the Alcona County Herald and Bub Chapple of the Alcona County Review who traveled to Standish and talked the young war hero attorney and his wife to move to Alcona county to run in the Republican Primary for Prosecuting Attorney. Margaret and Her husband moved in early 1946 to Alcona county. They lived in Harrisville and Rip had his first law office in Lincoln, Michigan in Alcona County. They campaigned together and Marg felt at home with the French speaking area of Alcona as she was French-Irish Canadian. At the Republican Primary (then held in June 1946) her husband J. Russell (Rip) Hughes received the nomination and was elected in the general election. He served and was elected for the next ten years as Prosecuting Attorney. They lived at 116 Huron Avenue Harrisville in an area called by some back then as French town. Every Christmas Eve before and following the traditional midnight mass at St Anne's this Episcopal couple had an open house. Any and all were invited to stop and partake of shrimp, oysters, snacks, fruit punch, Christmas cookies, Fruit cakes and shepherd pie. Here in Alcona she was a part time Nurse and stay at home mom. Margaret and Rip met a young physician named Aneas Constantine, MD. Although Doc had another office nurse (Peral Henderson) Doc Constantine would often call on "Margaret" to help him deliver babies at one of the maternity homes or sometimes at a farm house or other home in Alcona County. Being a primarily a stay at home mom, she raised her two children M. (Margaret) GAIL and RUSS Jr. later called J.R. by most, but not Marge his mom. She was involved in 4H as one of the leaders. She had time for school activities PTA and she would often send food to the elderly or the single male school teachers. She often would do it so that no one knew the source of her kindness. Since there were very few locked doors in the county, a pie or treat could be left inside of an open door. One day her youngest son came home and asked, Mom what is a Jew? WHy do you ask, she inquired. "Well, said he, Pat Stone said the Pizers' were Jews and he said it in a mean way." Oh, she said. Well you know that we go to church services on Sunday? And we worship Jesus as Messiah? Yes, yes, he said. Well the Jewish people like Pizers go to services on Saturday and they still are looking for the Messiah. "Oh. Okay." her preteen son said. That was her lesson in religion. Another time she was asked why Acey a man who came up with some well off summer residents, (the Freemans) was so dark. Acey was a very dark complected black male. "As I understand it, she began, Acey's ancestors come form Africa and for generations they had been in the sun and the skin was tanned really dark. Dark skin does help protect you from the sun, you know. A lesson in the colors of the various populations of the ONE human race. They had a garden and so there was, of course, canning. Her basement shelves were lined with mason jars of tomatoes, pea, beans, corn, and other vegetables. There was a meat section, And also the sweet shop area. Here were jar upon jar of strawberry and raspberry preserves as well as other wild berries. In canning season, every jar in the house which had been gathered over the year was pressed into service. And every year there seemed to be more and more. Having too much causes one to be compelled to give away the extra to the elderly or otherwise less fortunate. COUNTY SERVICE: After the children were in later senior high school and college Margaret put all her nursing and mothering knowledge to work as she became the Probate Court Officer, a State Juvenile Agent. Later she was selected by the 23rd Circuit Court Judge (Alan Miller) to be the first Friend of the Court for Alcona county. Her husband who had been the county prosecutor, a Circuit Court Commissioner and County Estate Administrator became Probate Judge. Margaret and her husband who had worked together to raise their children now worked together to help other young children in trouble. Margaret always saw the good in theses children, many of whom she had helped deliver more than a decade earlier. Margaret was always Mrs Hughes. She was always involved in her husband's activities: church, fraternal and Veterans. If her husband was a mason, she was an Eastern Star; he was in VFW she was in the VFW auxiliary; Odd Fellows, Rebeccas. So when her husband was made later selected State leader of the Odd Fellows, then the VFW Adjutant General and was finally State Commander of the Disabled American Veterans (during the heat of Viet Nam war) she proudly served with him. So it was not surprising, that when he resigned from being Judge to become an Episcopal priest and Missioner (not missionary) to the North for the Diocese of Michigan of the Episcopal Church, she also resigned her court positions and often accompanied him in his church work. After a rather full life as Nurse, mother, Juvenile Agent, Friend of the Court and Episcopal priest's wife, she began a period of retirement with her husband. Of course retirement gave her time to be more of a grandmother to seven actual grandchildren and mother or grandmother to scores of other children. One Wednesday night after church service, her husband, in a hurry to go to the "bathroom," went down the hall and turned the wrong way. He stepped out on to a cement porch falling down some cement steps and crashing into a cement walk. He was rushed to the hospital and medivaced to Bay City by helicopter. He was operated upon to relieve the pressure on the brain from the blood hemorage. Twenty one (21) days later, her husband of 56 years slipped off to be with the Lord on November 8, 1992. He was buried with full military honors on the 74th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I when he (Rip) had been 11. Marg had been an 8 year old girl when she heard that uncles and older cousins would be marching back to Canada. + No one at first realized how much his death affected Margaret, but looking back one can see that Margaret had a complete nervous collapse. Within two (2) years she became primarily bed ridden. Within five (5) years she had died. At the funeral held at the Episcopal church, they sang Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I am found. Was blind, but now I see. And someone read the words of our Lord, I AM the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me, though were he dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and beliveth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? Margaret is survived by two sisters, four brothers, her daughter M. Gail, her son, J. R. (Russ) Hughes, seven grandchildren and one great grand child. Her husband of 56 years J. Russell (Rip) Hughes proceeded her as did 2 brothers.