Col L. R. Hughes

Colonel L. R. Hughes (88) passed away peacefully at home on August 16, 2024, in
Vineyard, Utah, in the company of his wife and family. Hughes was born on August 23, 1935, in
Kansas City, Jackson County-Missouri. He is survived by his wife, Emily Karla Vollmar Hughes; sons Louis Rector "Rex" Hughes IV of Seattle, WA; and Bailey Atwood Hughes of Herndon, VA; a daughter, Hilary Hughes Thorne (Denny) and granddaughters Macie Mei and Bailey Grey Thorne of Provo, UT.; a sister, Linda Hughes Campbell of Joplin, MO; and his daughter's Aunt Amelia Brown of Johnson City, TN. He was preceded in death by his father, an air force "Flying Tiger," Colonel Louis Rector Hughes, Jr.; his mother, Mary Elizabeth Atwood Hughes; and his brother, Dennis Atwood Hughes.
After graduation from Mascoutah (lL) Community High School, he dropped the name
"Little Louie!" Next, he pledged Phi Kappa Tau at the University of Florida. There he received a
degree in landscape architecture (city planning major) followed by two graduate degrees from
the University of Missouri, the last in journalism. His military education included attendance at
the Defense Information School of Photojournalism and the senior officer cultural diversity course. He received a graduate degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Beginning in 1958 at Fort Jackson, SC, Private First Class Hughes served in the Army
and Air Force on active duty as well as reserve and National Guard duty for 37 years. After
serving in Topeka, KS, as Resident Agent, Army Counterintelligence Corps (CIC), he was
commissioned and assigned as a special agent, Office of Special Investigations (OSI), and later
commanded an air force crash/rescue firefighting unit. And after serving as a Rapid Runway Repair civil engineering officer (RRR), Colonel Hughes was assigned deputy commander of the 2,800-member Missouri Air National Guard. His decorations ranged from the Army Good Conduct Medal to the Legion of Merit (LOM).
His civilian appointments – served between active-duty assignments – included dean,
state lobbyist, foundation executive secretary and advancement officer at Lincoln University,
Jefferson City, MO, a historically black land-grant university. He was the first Missouri recipient of the National Association of 1890 historically black Extension Administrators Achievement Award. He later also received the National Extension Team Diversity Award. He was a nationally certified community development specialist who for seven years edited VANGUARD (part-time), the quarterly newspaper of the Community Development Society (international).
As an elected Southern District Boone County Missouri Judge, he also lobbied for the
Missouri Association of Counties. And for a short time – also between military assignments – he served as vice president of Columbia College, MO, where he authored and implemented – the first anywhere –Travel Administration Degree Program in the United States.
Hughes was named Columbia's 1970 Outstanding Young Man of the Year based on
community leadership which included construction of Columbia's downtown canopies making it possible for sidewalk ramps to be installed to accommodate the physically challenged. In addition, he was a volunteer advisor and instructor to the 800 'Citizens' who annually attend Missouri Girls State. In addition, he was a member of the League of Women Voters.
He was a Kiwanis George F. Hixon and Walter Zeller Fellow with memberships in most
of the places (in alphabetical order) where he resided first following his military father and later
as an adult, AL, AR, AZ, FL, Guam, IL, Japan, KS, KY, LA, MO, MT, NC, NY, Panama, TX, UT
and VA. He was named a Kiwanis Distinguished Club President in Greenville, NC. His diverse
community interests included service as Columbia MO United Way campaign chairman and founding director of Central Missouri Planned Parenthood.
After retiring, Colonel Hughes became a stay-at-home father to then eight-year-old
daughter, Hilary. As a room parent, substitute teacher, and testing proctor, his positivity
influenced elementary students' lives during and after his six years of unpaid service. He was so
well respected that he was offered a full-time teaching position which he reluctantly declined to follow his wife who eventually became a university president.
L R Hughes was a Purple Martin Landlord, enjoyed collecting C. S. Forester's Horatio
Hornblower novels, as well as reading W.E.B. Griffin Brotherhood of War novels. In 2010 he
began making bow ties as gifts. At the time of his death, Brother Hughes had been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over 45 years.
Colonel Hughes has had several health challenges in the past four years which have
now been resolved.
Written by Colonel L.R. Hughes, June 30, 2024
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Viewing and funeral services will be held on Thursday August 22, 2024 at 9:30-10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., respectively, at the Edgemont North Stake Center, 345 Foothill Dr., Provo, UT 84604.
Flowers may be sent to the Hughes Home at 549 N. Mallard Drive, Unit A, Vineyard, UT
84059-6607. In lieu of flowers, tax exempt donations may be made to the Orem Golden K
Kiwanis Club, 145 N 400 E, Orem, UT 84097-4846.
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