Ronald F. Hughes

Ronald Frederick Hughes

Heaven welcomed a master "jack-of-all-trades" and devoted family man on Friday, March 27, 2026. A lifelong resident of Harrington, Delaware, Ronald Frederick Hughes leaves behind a legacy of service to his country and community, and a lifetime of love for his family and friends.

Ron was born on January 23, 1947, to Benjamin and Emma Lee Hughes. He is preceded in death by his parents and his sisters, Jane and Cindy, who were there to welcome him home.

From his early teenage years, Ron was an integral part of the family business, Hi-Grade Dairy. He went on to attend the University of Delaware, where he proudly wore the blue and gold as a member of the Fighting Blue Hens football team. Before his sophomore year, his parents asked if he would consider coming home on weekends to help with the dairy. Without a moment's hesitation, Ron stepped away from the sport he loved to answer the call of family yet never wavered in his studies, graduating in 1969. He went on to help engineer, build, and successfully expand Hi-Grade Dairy from its single building on Clark Street to what eventually became Bennie's Junction Steakhouse and a large processing plant on northbound Route 13 in Harrington.

As meaningful as his business accomplishments were, nothing compared to the love of his life his wife, Charlyne. Their story began when Ron was just 11 and Charlyne was 8, a friendship that blossomed quietly over the next decade into something lasting. They married in August 1969, and Ron, now an Army officer, was stationed with Charlyne at Fort Lee, Virginia, where their daughter, Tracey Lynn Hughes, was born in December 1971. After completing his military service, the couple returned to Harrington, settled into the corner house on East Center Street, and never left. In April 1976, they welcomed their son, Benjamin Todd Hughes, completing their family.

Over the decades that followed, Ron poured himself into his community and his faith. He coached his children's Harrington League T-ball teams, served as a lifelong member of the Harrington Fire Department, and was both Choir Director and a devoted member of Asbury United Methodist Church, later becoming a member of Calvary Wesleyan Community Church as well.

In his retirement years, following the closing of Bennie's Junction, Ron channeled his boundless ingenuity into one of his most beloved projects conceptualizing, engineering, and fabricating a reverse trike he christened Hughy Inc. Though his dream of mass-producing the trikes never came to be, he and Charlyne made many cherished memories cruising around town together in it.

Ron is survived by his beloved wife, Charlyne; his daughter, Tracey, and her husband, Terry; his son, Todd, and his wife, Anne; three grandchildren, B. Daniel Edwards IV, Emma Hughes, and Emma Edwards; his nephew, Steve Moore, and wife, Paula; and his faithful furry companion, Hughey.

The family has chosen to forgo a traditional service and will hold a private celebration of life.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Thomas E. Melvin & Son Funeral Home, please visit us at www.melvinfuneralhome.com to express or send condolences.