William Wright Hughes

William Wright Hughes, 78, passed away surrounded by family on August 28th, 2025. Bill was born on January 5, 1947 to Mary Wright Hughes and William Francis Hughes. He was the youngest child with four older sisters who adored him. He had a wonderful childhood in Holladay, UT with many adventures. Bill graduated from Olympus High School in 1965. He served a faithful mission in the South Germany Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He cherished his time in Germany and was able to return several times over the years. When he returned from his mission, he attended the University of Utah and graduated with a degree in Interior Design. Bill served in the 866 Army Reserve Unit. In 1972, he married Bonnie Rees (later divorced) and had 4 children, Alex, Matt, Carrie and Dede. Bill spent most of his career in the construction industry as an estimator and project manager. In 2002, Bill moved to Port Orchard, WA to work as a Facilities Manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints until his retirement in 2016. He loved his time in Washington and always referred to it as “paradise.”

On May 12, 2012, Bill married the love of his life, Jaylynn Lyon. They spent 13 wonderful years together traveling to places such as southern Utah, China, Istanbul, Greece, Mexico, Spain, Scotland, Scandinavia and Morocco. They also spent a summer serving together in the Stockholm Temple. Jaylynn was a huge blessing to Bill and, together, they had a wonderful life.

Bill spent his life loving the outdoors and found true joy hiking, backpacking and skiing. He joined the Wasatch Mountain Club in 1965 at 18 years old . He hiked Mt. Olympus over 30 times, the Grand Canyon rim to rim four times, summited Mt Whitney twice, backpacked all over Utah and the western states. Bill loved to enjoy the outdoors with his boys and instilled a love of the outdoors in all his children.

Later in life, Bill developed a talent for woodworking. He built baby bassinets for each of his kids’ first-born children. He also made wonderful treasure boxes for each grandkid. They were such special gifts for all his grandkids. Grandpa Hughes loved his grandkids and was so proud of them and all of their accomplishments.

Bill was also a Master Gardener. He had a love for flowers and gardening and always had an amazing garden at every house. He found peace working in the yard, loved his flowers, often commented , ”why do flowers delight my soul so much?”

Bill will be deeply missed. He is survived by his loving wife, Jaylynn Hughes, his children: Alex (Amber) Hughes, Matt Hughes, Carrie (Spencer) Tuttle, Dede (James) Crowley and Jaylynn’s son, Nat (Meaghan) Levy, his 12 grandkids, his sister Sylvia Kim and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Mary Hughes, sisters: Mary Ellen Hansen, Ann Richards, and Frances Holtom, and son-in-law, Spencer Tuttle.

We would like to thank the amazing doctors and nurses at the University of Utah CVICU. He was well cared for in his final days.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, September 5, 2025. Viewing will be from 9-10:45 am. Funeral will begin at 11 am at the East Layton Stake Center 1015 north Emerald Drive, Layton, UT 84040. A stream of services will be available over zoom.

Zoom information:

https://zoom.us/j/91017912798