Obituary of Arthur Francis Hughes

Arthur Francis Hughes passed away at his home in Burlington on Wednesday morning, February 26, 2020 at the age of 90. Arthur was the beloved husband of 65 years of Irene (Butler) Hughes. Arthur was born and raised in Somerville. He was the youngest of 11 children born to the late Sarah and James Hughes. He was a graduate of St. Clements High School. Arthur was a veteran of the Korean War serving his country in the United States Navy. He was the recipient of the United Nations Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, China Service Medal and the National Defense Medal. After the service Arthur went on to graduate from Boston College with his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Arthur had a long and distinguished career in education. He was a teacher at Charlton Elementary School, a Guidance Counselor at the Western Junior High School, and was a Principal of the Cutler, Conwell & Kennedy Schools in Somerville. He was an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox, Bruins, and the New England Patriots. He was also a longtime fan of Boston College Hockey and Football. Arthur was very involved in Catholic ministries including Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul Society and was a Eucharistic minister at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Saugus. Arthur will be remembered as a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother and friend. He was devoted to his family and enjoyed entertaining his children and others with his warm hugs, self-choreographed jigs, and enthusiastic renditions of his favorite old songs. Arthur was the beloved husband of 65 years of Irene (Butler) Hughes. Loving father of Mary Villano & her husband Dennis of North Waterboro, ME, Irene McClain & her husband Ralph of Vienna, VA, Elizabeth Cole & her husband Geoffrey of Westford, Margaret Moran & her husband Timothy of Stoneham, Sarah Ahern & her husband Daniel of Chelmsford, James John Hughes of Saugus and the late Elaine Keenan-Hosein. Brother of George Hughes of Tewksbury and the late Lillian Tobin, Mary Donovan, Winifred Shea, Hazel Koerber and James, Edward, John, Robert & Alfred Hughes. Proud grandfather of his twelve grandchildren Renee, Rosemarie, & Rachael McClain, Daniel Leonard, Sarah Hosein, Max & Zoe Cole, Matthew & Nicole Moran, Jacob. Danielle, & Abigail Ahern. Also survived by six great grandchildren and his beloved dog Cassie. Visiting hours will be held at the Edward V Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128/95 Woburn side) on Sunday, March 1 from 3-6 p.m. Funeral from the Funeral Home on Monday, March 2 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Burial to follow in Westview Cemetery, Lexington. Memorials in Arthur’s name may be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 86 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA 02143 www.littlesistersofthepoorboston.org Family Remembrance by Mary On behalf of my mother, my sisters and brother, and our extended family, I would like to thank all of you who are here today to help us say good bye to our dad. It means a lot to us to see so many of our relatives and friends here with us. Although my dad was 90 years old, we were stunned when we found out he had died. He was full of life, healthy for a man of his age, and carried on like a much younger man. He took daily care of my mother and their dog Cassie, drove his car to do local errands, and managed his finances and personal business for my mother and himself without assistance from us. It seems inconceivable that he will no longer be with us. Our dad was a great man. For all of you who knew him personally, you know he had an outgoing personality. No matter where we were, he would say hello to everyone he came in contact with. If he knew you, he always asked how you and your family were doing. He asked about your work, your interests, or whatever was going on in your life. The two most important things in my dads’ life were his family and his faith in God. He and my mother were married for 65 years and they loved each other deeply. Life was not always easy for them, but they supported each other through all of the challenges. In the past years, my moms’ health became more challenging and my dads’ main purpose in life was to make her happy and take care of her daily needs. He was a great caretaker. As a father, he was the best. We have so many great memories of my dad growing up. He had a silly and playful side to him and we had lots of laughs together. He would have us sing all of the old songs like Zippity Doo Dah and Good Night Irene. We would often belt them out together in the house or on car rides. He also used to do this shuffle tap dance thing that is hard to describe but it will always be imprinted in our minds and memories. He also loved to annoy my mother and his daughters. My dad would wake up and instantly be energized, talkative, and ready for action. His wife and daughters are the opposite and take a long time to wake up. We don’t like to talk or interact with anyone until we have had time to clear the cobwebs out of our head and slowly come to life. Many mornings our dad would start doing this awful whistle sound that was like scratching your nails on a chalk board, while doing his tap dance jig. Just to annoy us! He particularly liked to badger Betty who was the least receptive to his antics. Every morning, he would wait for Betty at the bottom of the stairs to greet her. If she knew he was there, she would run to the back of the house to go down the other stairs. But he outsmarted her and just ran to greet her there. Mornings were often fun in our house. Some of our best memories with my dad were spending our summer vacations at Silver Lake in Tewksbury. The entire family would stay in a three-room cottage with no shower, washing machine or dryer. He would take us swimming and turtling. They were such happy times. Not so much for my mother but fun for the rest of us. On Saturday nights, we would all hang out on my parents’ bed with my dad and watch Get Smart and Lawrence Welk. We would fight over whose turn it was to get our head scratched by my dad. My parents have always shared a deep commitment to helping others. They modeled service to others in so many ways. Every Saturday, my dad would take one or two of us to pick up used clothing from various homes in Somerville and deliver them to a thrift store. Our dad has always been a very devout Catholic. Not only did we go to Mass on Sundays, but he took us to Novenas and daily Mass during Lent. He always lived his life according to the teachings of the church. He was a Eucharistic Minister for many years and served at all of the funeral masses in his Saugus parish. He keeps several pairs of Rosary beads in his dresser and when he meets someone new, he presents them with a pair of rosary beads. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother and loved caring for a large statue of her in the backyard. He made sure she was painted and adorned with flowers at all times. I want to share a story about my dad that will demonstrate how important his faith was to him. A little background first. Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money and my dad was definitely NOT handy around the house. IF things broke, they pretty much stayed that way or my mother figured out how to fix it. We learned how to jiggle the toilet so it didn’t run and just managed to live with it as best as we could. One day my sister Sarah who was very young at the time, locked herself in the bathroom. To get her out, my dad got my mothers’ hammer and smashed a big hole in the door so they could rescue Sarah. Then he took a large piece of paneling with pink and blue stripes and nailed it to the door to cover the hole. A beautiful new door for our bathroom. It stayed like that for YEARS. Basically, my dads’ philosophy was, its good enough. Back to the story. A few years ago, my father got some religious bumper stickers from EWTN, a Catholic tv station. He asked me to help him put them on the rear bumper of his car. He wanted them to be put on the bumper just right so he had me get a ruler and a level so they were evenly spaced and perfectly straight. As I already mentioned, our family did not have a lot of money. My dad was in charge of weekly food shopping and chose the best deals he could find. He bought one four pack of toilet paper each week. With six daughters in the house, the package was gone by Tuesday. We could not convince him that he needed to buy more than one four pack. He tried to teach us how to use less but that didn’t work. Now as adults, we all keep enough toilet paper in the house for at least a few months. Our father loved has family unconditionally and endlessly. He was disappointed when God did not bless him with a son, even though he had six lovely daughters. So he went on a world-wide search for the perfect son and JJ soon became part of our family. Dad gave us lots of gifts over the years. They were not expensive toys or clothing. But they were the best kind of gifts. The gift of unconditional love, respect and concern for others, commitment to family, and a strong faith in God. We will miss so many things about my dad, especially his warm bear hugs that we received every time he greeted us. He liked to refer to these hugs as the “crunch”. We will hold him forever in our hearts and memories. And we now have an angel watching over all of us. We love you dad!