John Harvey Hughes, 78, died on Monday, April 1, 2024, at Cornerstone Specialty Hospital in Lake Charles, LA, surrounded by his family.
Visitation will be held Friday, April 5, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange, TX. Funeral services will be held at McDonald Memorial Baptist Church in West Orange, TX on Saturday, April 6, at 2 p.m. with Trey Clark officiating. Burial will take place at Forest Lawn Cemetery in West Orange, TX.
Mr. Hughes was born on Feb. 23, 1946, in Hillsboro. He was the fourth child of George and Ena Marie (Abernathy) Hughes. He grew up in Witt. He graduated from Witt High School and was drafted to the US Army. He served as a cook for 2 years at Fort Polk in Louisiana. Along that journey, he met and married Sybil Burch. Their love was evident to all as they just celebrated 56 years of marriage on Feb. 9.
Mr. Hughes worked and retired from Bayer in Orange, TX. He was a member of McDonald Memorial Baptist Church. For 19 years he was a member of the West Orange Volunteer Fire Department.
He always enjoyed his annual trips to Illinois to visit family. After retirement, he and his wife would go twice a year. While there, his sister’s lake house would become a gathering place for friends and family to visit. During every visit, he and his wife always spent a day in the Amish country with his long-time best friends.
During retirement life, Mr. Hughes could be found operating his lawn service and mowing many lawns around West Orange and tinkering with his lawnmowers. But what he spent most of that time doing was being his grandchildren’s biggest fan. He could be found at football, basketball and baseball games as well as dance recitals. He didn’t want to miss a thing they were involved in. Anyone that spoke to him knew without a shadow of a doubt those grandchildren were his pride and joy. They affectionately called “Bippy,” and many of their friends called him the same.
In addition to being the grandchildren’s Bippy, he was the best dad. There was never a doubt of the love he had for his girls. He was always there to answer questions about everything and always a strong foundation in their lives.
Mr. Hughes was easygoing, ever the optimist and could always be found with a smile. To know him was to truly love him.
Mr. Hughes is survived by his wife Sybil, daughters Laura (husband Trey) Clark and Emily (husband Steven) Geldard; grandchildren Quade Clark, Max Geldard, John Hayden Clark and Addison Geldard; siblings, Bob Hughes, Marge (husband Herb) Lakin, Nancy Shipman, Janice (husband Jim) Crabtree, Barbara Whitlow, Alta (husband John) Lovsey and Helen (husband Brad) Saxby; sister-in-law Ann Wimberly; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, Alta King and James and Rosie Hughes; in-laws, Ben and Lillie Burch; granddaughters, Makenzie, Makaela and Makenna Clark; and other close relatives.
